Reporting to the Group COO Andrea Scrosati, Chang will oversee the strategy and creation of Fremantle’s new division, spearheading its growth in high-end factual production.
Fremantle announced the appointment of Mandy Chang as Global Head of Documentaries, spearheading its growth in high-end factual production.
Reporting to the Group COO Andrea Scrosati, Mandy will oversee the strategy and creation of Fremantle’s new factual division.
On her appointment, Andrea Scrosati, Group COO, Fremantle, commented: “Mandy is an incredible creative talent, her experience and leadership as both a producer and commissioner will be key to Fremantle’s very ambitious plans to scale-up our global factual capabilities. Whilst we are already producing and distributing a growing slate of documentaries, we want to invest to do more and we are excited to work with Mandy who will help us design and execute this ambitious plan.”
Mandy Chang, incoming Global Head of Documentaries added: “Leading BBC Storyville and international acquisitions to bring hundreds of hours of the best international documentaries and factual programming to the BBC’s platforms has been deeply fulfilling and a privilege. I am now really looking forward to a new challenge, working with Andrea and taking up this ambitious new role at Fremantle. This is a unique opportunity to create a division of world-class documentary films and series from around the globe, that unites all the experience and knowledge gained throughout my career.”
Fremantle has already announced a number of new premium documentaries produced by its teams around the world, as it forges its way in this genre. Working with Richard Brown’s Passenger, Fremantle is set to chart the launch and inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in a landmark documentary series directed by up-and-coming South African director Tebogo Malope.
In the UK, Fremantle’s Naked is working on Planet Sex (Hulu and BBC Three) which will see Cara Delevingne front a series exploring the biggest questions in human sexuality. In Italy, Fremantle is set to launch its original series Veleno: The Town of Lost Children with Amazon Prime Video, chronicling the true events of the ‘Satanic Panic’ phenomenon. In Germany, UFA (with Wild Blue Media) have produced an epic documentary series which follows the most urgent scientific expedition to undertake crucial climate research, Arctic Drift and recently announced the creation of UFA Documentaries a division fully focused on production of high-end docs.
Fremantle also has number of high-end documentary acquisitions on its 2021 slate, including the urgent water scarcity documentary Day Zero, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor; Samuel L. Jackson-fronted seminal series Enslaved; How it Feels to Be Free executive produced by Alicia Keys, and recently announced titles Oscar Peterson: Black and White and Hulu three-part docuseries Von Dutch.
Chang joins Fremantle from BBC Storyville where she has been Commissioning Editor since 2017. Prior to that, she was Head of Arts at ABC TV and Acting Head of Non-Scripted TV at ABC. An award-winning documentary producer/director and filmmaker, Mandy has won respect in her industry for her work and has received many nominations and several eminent awards including an Emmy for her films. Her work has spanned a range of factual genres – music, arts, history, observational, polemical & biographical.
