12 Aug 2022
Simon Crossley installed as permanent development head, joined by newly-appointed Roger Johnson
Remarkable Entertainment is strengthening its development division with the creation of two permanent roles.
The Banijay label behind Pointless, Starstruck and BBC1’s anticipated reboot of Survivor, has appointed acting head of development Simon Crossley to a permanent position, as well as hiring development producer Roger Johnson whose credits include Race Across the World and Tenable.
Crossley, who has been at the label for a year, reports to Entertainment chief executive officer Natalka Znak.
He had previously held positions at Tuesday’s Child, Zodiak Media and Sony, as well as spending five years as head of development at ITV Studios Label Possessed.
During this time, Crossley has developed a range of entertainment formats, including ITV’s Sitting on a Fortune which scored a second series order earlier this year, BBC1 series Catchpoint and Unbeatable, as well as ITV formats Cash Trapped and 5 Gold Rings.
He also co-devised RDF’s C4 format The Secret Life of Four Year Olds and began his career in the BBC’s entertainment department, working on formats including How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
Znak said that Crossley is a “hugely impressive head of development who has the confidence, vision and determination to create the ambitious, compelling entertainment formats we are all about”.
Crossley will be supported by Johnson who takes up the newly-created position of development producer.
He most recently acted as music producer for Netflix series Sing On via entertainment label Hello Dolly across three territories, as well as co-devising, co-developing and producing Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win for ITV. Johnson also devised and developed Tenable through Znaks fellow label Initial, as well as developing formats including Hardball, Race Across the World and Winning Combination.