Ralph Lee Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Ralph Lee, one of the New York stage’s preeminent mask and puppetry designers perhaps most widely known for his “Land Shark” that ate various cast members of Saturday Night Live during the 1970s, died May 12 at his home in Manhattan following a months-long illness. He was 87.

BBC Studios Scripted MD Mark Linsey has said the production community “needs to think about how to make drama and comedy at a lower tariff” amidst a tricky economic situation.

K.J. Yossman BBC Studios has merged three areas of its formats business to create a new global entertainment division led by Matt Forde.

BBC Studios is continuing its acquisitions spree in the UK. 

K.J. Yossman Amazon Prime Video and BBC Studios Factual are the latest comopanies to sign up to We Are Doc Women’s pledge to commit to 50% female directors for their factual output. They follow previous signatories BBC Documentaries, Channel 4 Documentaries, Hilary Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions, Lenny Henry’s Douglas Road Productions, Gordon Ramsay’s Studio Ramsey, and Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse, who have all previously committed to the pledge. Also comprising the 67 signatories are production companies including The Garden, Blast Films, Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Lime Pictures, Minnow Films, Dragonfly Film & TV and Arrow International Media, 72 Films, Dorothy Street Pictures, Rogan Productions, Story Films, Empress Films and Grain Media.

Kate Ward, Vice Studios Global President and the boss of Pulse Films, has joined BBC Studios to oversee factual.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Vice Studios global president Kate Ward is joining BBC Studios to oversee its factual portfolio, Variety can reveal. Ward has been appointed to the role of managing director for factual at BBC Studios Productions, where she replaces Tom McDonald, who left the company earlier this year to join National Geographic. With her new role, the well-respected executive — who most recently served as president of global studios and Pulse Films for Vice Media Group — will take on one of the most significant production portfolios in the U.K. industry, spanning the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Documentary Unit and Science Unit. She will also oversee relationships with BBC Studios’ roster of production companies, including Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse Productions, David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and James and Soleta Rogan’s Rogan Productions.

K.J. Yossman Keira Knightley, Kit Harington, Emeli Sandé and Toby Jones are among the celebrities who’ve signed up to explore their family histories in Wonderhood Studios show “My Grandparents’ War.” The second season of the show, which airs in the U.K. on Channel 4, will explore how the stars’ grandparents navigated global conflicts from the killing fields of Kenya to the mountains of Monte Cassino in Italy. The first season starred Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas and Carey Mulligan. All3Media International distributes the show, which will air on PBS in the U.S., SBS in Australia and CBC in Canada.

BBC Studios has taken a 25% minority stake in former Channel 4 Deputy Head of Programmes Kelly Webb-Lamb’s Mothership Productions.

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios is rolling out an initiative to prevent bullying and stop “inappropriate behaviour” to all of its productions.

K.J. Yossman BBC Studios has consolidated and rebranded its production and content teams under the banner BBC Studios Productions.The move is intended to “create a single content powerhouse for all the commercial arm’s productions, talent relationships, and content investment.”BBC Studios Productions will oversee four genres – scripted, factual, global formats group and children’s – which will apply across all of BBC Studios’ wholly and partly owned labels as well as BBC Studios Productions and indies with which BBC Studios partners for content sales.CEO of BBC Studios Productions, Ralph Lee, will oversee the company’s productions and content investment, supported by COO Martha Brass, whose purview is business development, production operations and strategy.

Naman Ramachandran Lisa Opie, managing director of U.K. production at BBC Studios, is departing after eight years with the company.The executive will leave in the coming months.