At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Product operating in the Media and Entertainment space. If you think a Product is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Lippe Oosterhof
Head of Product Yahoo News, Lifestyle, Entertainment of Verizon Media
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About Verizon Media: Verizon Media offers services in content, advertising, and technology with its brands such as Yahoo, TechCrunch, and more.
Jasmine Cox
Product Designer of BBC
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Tim Sargeant
Head of Product, Systems & Services of BBC
Tim is a Chartered Engineer with significant experience in the broadcast and media industry. In his current role he leads a team of engineers to plan, develop and deliver production systems used by BBC teams at MediaCityUK, including Sport and Children’s. Big focus areas for him at the moment are the tools and technologies used for the production of low-cost Live and Short-form content for the BBC’s digital platforms. He is passionate about developing new talent and sponsors the BBC’s broadcast engineering apprenticeship and trainee schemes, accredited by the Institute of Engineering and Technology. Tim has Masters degree in Electronic Engineering & Music Technology, and started out his career in working in Research & Development writing software for AR and VR for broadcast television.
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Matthew Postgate
Chief Technology and Product Officer of BBC
As Chief Technology Officer, Matthew Postgate is responsible for the corporation’s Technology & Systems. In addition, Matthew is a director of Youview Ltd; a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, C4, Channel Five, BT, Talk Talk and Arqiva that is developing a next-generation hybrid television platform. Prior to his current role within the organisation Matthew was Controller, Research & Development. He was part of the management team that launched BBC iPlayer and was in charge of BBC mobile where he was responsible for building the corporation’s world leading mobile services. Before joining the BBC, Matthew worked as a telecommunication consultant, was the director of an internet infrastructure start-up and worked at a digital strategy agency for clients including the Royal Mail, BT, Lloyds TSB, Visa and Qinetiq.
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Daniel Whaley
Senior Architect – Product (Voice + AI) of BBC
Dan Whaley has been involved in voice and artificial intelligence since the earlier noughties and has worked in design, development and as a consultant. Currently at the BBC, helping build the future of broadcast media, Dan has seen the AI world emerge from the shadows to the mainstream and gained years of practical experience along the way.
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Neil Hall
Head of Product, BBC iPlayer of BBC
A senior product leader with over 15 years’ experience creating and managing digital services, Neil is currently Head of Product for BBC Sport, leading the product development of the UK’s biggest and best digital sport offering.
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Stephanie May
Executive Product Manager of BBC
Stephanie is a product management expert who was included in Product Management Festival’s 50 Women in Product in Europe List in 2018. Having gained an MEng from the University of Cambridge, she spent the next two years volunteering as a Biomedical Engineer on the MV Africa Mercy, the world’s largest charity hospital ship, before moving into software development. She’s passionate about collaboration and design thinking and has a range of product management experience across FinTech, B2B and consumer products. Stephanie now leads the Content Discovery product team at the BBC, looking at the strategy and delivery of products such as the BBC Homepage, Discovery Engine and Search.
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About BBC: BBC is a large-scale broadcasting corporation that offers content to inform, educate, and entertain people.
Mariele Runacre Temple
Casting and Production Manager of Audible
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About Audible, Wireless Theatre: Audible is an internet provider of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.
Peter Collins
Director Production Security of WarnerMedia
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About WarnerMedia: WarnerMedia is a media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content to global audiences.
Steve Forde
Director of Digital Products of ITV
Steve Forde has nearly 20 years of digital marketing and product experience. He has spent the majority of that working for the UK’s leading broadcasters. Steve joined ITV in 2015 having spent a decade at Channel 4 where he headed up the marketing for 4oD and the award winning viewer data strategy. Steve joined ITV to launch of the ITV Hub, which has had a 43% increase in viewing in it’s first year. As the Director of Product and Online Marketing, Steve is responsible for the ITV Hub’s product and viewer strategy. Him and his team of product, engagement and experience professionals are placing the viewer at the heart of the end-to-end viewer experience vision.
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About ITV, ITV, ITV: ITV is an integrated producer broadcaster, operating the largest commercial family of channels in the UK.
Natalie Bolton
Production Manager of ITV
Natalie has been working in Production Management now for over 18 years, working at Broadcasters and Independents in London and Manchester including Discovery, Endemol, Zig Zag Productions, ITV and BBC. Natalie joined BBC Children’s in 2012 and whilst looking after the CBeebies development team one of the first projects to develop was the Sesame Workshop Co-Production The Furchester Hotel which Natalie took through the development and production as Line Producer. Natalie was instrumental in shaping the series and achieving the high ambition of the show, she has also Line Produced a new CBBC Comedy Drama – Class Dismissed and The Cbeebies Ugly Duckling annual ballet in conjunction with the Northern Ballet.
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About ITV: ITV is an integrated producer broadcaster, operating the largest commercial family of channels in the UK.
Ed Walker
V.P of Live Production of Vevo
Since joining Vevo in 2013 Ed Walker has reimagined the Vevo events and production proposition, creating new formats and opportunities for artists to connect to their fans. Starting in the London office Ed developed Vevo Halloween, which is now a flagship event for Vevo and will take place for the first time this year in the US. Ed also worked to develop Vevo’s presence at The Great Escape which is Europe’s biggest emerging music festival, where 15 artists perform across 3 days to hundreds of fans. In January 2016 Ed moved over to Vevo’s headquarters in New York to head up a new team around live production, working on all live events and original programming featuring an artist performance. In the last 18 months, he has redefined the look and feel of Vevo’s performance content. For Vevo’s live events Ed has been creating unique events across America with Vevo Presents, working with artists such as Ariana Grande, Halsey and The Weeknd. Before Vevo Ed worked with AEG across their roster of festivals and events in the UK, as well going on tour with Metallica as their production assistant. In 2017 Vevo brings Halloween to the US. The 3500 capacity event will take place in the Bay Area with 5 artists performing. The US event sold out in less than a week. The immersive event will be held in the UK too, with 5 different acts performing, however the creative direction theme and suppliers will be global and under Ed’s direction. Across the 2 week build Ed will be working with around 10 global suppliers who will help produce the stage & rigging, lighting design and audio. Suppliers will include Bright Design and 8th Day audio. Ed and team will be transforming the old Ford Car plant into another world for Vevo Halloween.
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About Vevo: Vevo is an all-premium music video and entertainment platform.
Matteo Cuellar
Director of Product Design and UX of iROKO Partners
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About iROKO Partners: iROKO Partners is an online Nigerian entertainment media distribution company that offers online media products.
Olivia Slot
Head of Production of Sunset+Vine
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About Sunset+Vine: Sunset+Vine is a leading sports production and media company.
Fabio Murra
Product & Marketing of V-Nova
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About V-Nova: Next-generation video and image compression that works today
Richard Wormwell
Head of Production Innovation of dock10
Richard Wormwell Now based at dock10 MediaCityUK, (the UK’s largest independent studio facilities) where he heads up their VR Studio, Richard Wormwell has 20 years’ experience in broadcast television, gained working in numerous leading roles in a global marketplace. With a wealth of experience as a multi-camera studio director and a passion for disruptive technologies, Richard captured his first immersive content when he brought two 360 camera arrays to a pilot music show he was producing in early 2015. Pitching the 360 music show lead to him delivering five immersive videos for The Voice UK. Since then, Richard has continued to produce content for the BBC including the horror series iScream and a behind the scenes tour of Wembley; the first piece of content to be uploaded to the BBC Sport YouTube Channel. Richard was the technical lead for Samsung’s first UK commercial shoot with the Gear 360 and is now collaborating with Sesame Street on his latest project; The Furchester Hotel – Hide & Seek Game. Throughout the last two years, dock10 have continually developed their technical abilities in capture and post production techniques, integrating broadcast quality VFX and games engine technologies to enhance their VR experiences. Dock10 are now taking the high production values associated with television industry to the fast developing commercial market.
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About dock10: dock10 operates as a digital media service provider.
Michael Kowalski
Head of Product of Tortoise Media
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About Storienteer, Tortoise Media: Tortoise Media builds a different type of newsroom, news without all the noise.
Jordan Clarke
DOP, Company Director and Head of Production of Orillo Films
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About Orillo Films: Orillo Films is a fully-inclusive production company based in both York and London.
Chris Rose
VP Production & Development of ViacomCBS Networks International
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About ViacomCBS Networks International: ViacomCBS Networks International offers powerful brands across every genre, format, demographic, and multimedia entertainment brand.
Zakhar Davydov
Product designer of why
qoo.fit co-founder, AI/ML engineer, product designer
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About why: Revolutionary media delivery platform empowered by an AI journalist
