BBC America has appointed Gina Mingacci to vice president, development and current programming. Based in Los Angeles, she reports to Nena Rodrigue, head of programming and production for BBC AMERICA.
"Gina has an incredibly strong track record for sourcing, developing and producing extraordinary content and she will play an important role as
BBC America continues to develop and produce unique original shows for our passionate fans," said Rodrigue.
Previously, Mingacci was head of scripted television at Superb Entertainment, where she developed and sold both comedy and drama scripted series to HBO, Fox, Media Rights Capital, Lifetime and Lionsgate. Prior to that, Gina produced films for over 15 years and premiered features in and out of competition at the Sundance, Toronto, and Venice film festivals.
As president of production at New York-based Independent Pictures she oversaw the development and production of a large slate of films and worked with acclaimed filmmakers such as Academy Award winner Alexander Payne, Harmony Korine, Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, cult photographer Larry Clark and Tony Award winner Gregory Mosher.
A graduate of New York University's prestigious Cinema Studies program, she began her career in the publicity department at TriStar Pictures in New York before becoming a development executive at Woods Entertainment/Miramax Films where she worked on such notable films as "Beautiful Girls," "Citizen Ruth," "Copland," "Kids," "Scream" and "Swingers."
Today's news comes as
BBC America prepares to launch Season 9 of the hit series "Doctor Who" on September 19, followed by the October 10 debut of new original series "The Last Kingdom," a contemporary story of redemption, vengeance and self-discovery set against the birth of England.
The network recently announced two new co-productions, "Undercover" and "Thirteen." "Undercover" is a six-part limited series from acclaimed writer Peter Moffat and starring Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester. The seriesfeatures lead character Maya (Okonedo) who is about to become the first black woman to hold the highest ranking public prosecutor role in England. "Thirteen"is a new original five-part mystery which follows Ivy Moxham (Jodie Comer) on the day she escapes from the cellar that has been her prison for the last 13 years.
The network also recently put a variety of projects in development including "Dirk Gently," an adaptation of Douglas Adams' comic novel; an untitled project from prolific filmmaker Sebastian Silva; "Moths" from Tony Wood and Cineflax; "The Greater Good" from Oscar nominated filmmaker Dana Shapiro; an untitled comic-noir thriller from Anders August; and an untitled project from Anna Winger.
