Georgie Hurford-Jones Joins Universal Television Alternative Studio As EVP Current Programming

Denise Petski

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Former Endemol Shine North America unscripted executive Georgie Hurford-Jones has joined Universal Television Alternative Studio as Executive Vice President, Current Programming. Hurford-Jones is one of the first major hires under the studio’s new president Toby Gorman, to whom she will report, following his appointment in August. In her new role, Hurford-Jones will oversee day-to-day management of the studio’s series and pilots with responsibilities that include development, casting, creative, formats and production plans.

“We continue to build a world-class team for our rapidly growing studio and Georgie is one of television’s most accomplished and respected unscripted executives,” said Gorman. “Her track record as both a producer and executive is second-to-none, yielding some of the biggest and most successful formats to date. As we take Universal Television Alternative Studio to even greater heights, Georgie’s vast experience will help ensure the quality of our shows remains unmatched season after season.”

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Hurford-Jones served as executive producer on Endemol Shine’s unscripted slate, with recent projects including MasterChef, MasterChef Junior with Gordon Ramsay and the reboot of The Biggest Loser. She previously served as SVP for Simon Cowell’s Syco TV as executive producer and launching ITV’s BAFTA Award-winning Britain’s Got Talent, before moving to the U.S. to serve as executive producer on America’s Got Talent from 2007 to 2012.

As an award-winning TV executive and showrunner, Hurford-Jones is responsible for some of the top unscripted worldwide formats over the last decade, including ITV’s BAFTA and Comedy Award-winning series Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant & Dec’s Gameshow Marathon and Prince’s Trust 30th Birthday LIVE comedy night. Hurford-Jones also served as a producer on the Channel 4 Emmy & BAFTA Award-winning talk show So Graham Norton as well as Channel 4’s FY2K: Graham Norton LIVE and travel documentaries.

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