Lionsgate & BBC Studios Deal, Which Spawned CBS’ ‘Ghosts’, Ends As Rachel Bendavid & Angie Stephenson Get New Roles At U.S. Arm Of UK Broadcaster
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Hit CBS comedy Ghosts came out of an interesting deal between BBC Studios, the production arm of the British public broadcaster, and Lionsgate.
That deal, which was initially signed in 2018, has now come to an end, Deadline understands. This comes as two of the key executives involved in the co-production pact, Rachel Bendavid and Angie Stephenson, have secured new roles at BBC Studios LA Productions, the Culver City-based division of the BBC. “Our scripted co-production partnership with Lionsgate has been successful and productive, leading to one of the biggest hit comedies on television.
While we have mutually agreed not to extend our formal business agreement, Lionsgate will remain a valued partner, and we will continue to work together for years to come on the hit show Ghosts and on an array of projects in development,” a BBC Studios spokeswoman told Deadline. “We are pleased to welcome Rachel Bendavid to our in-house team at BBC Studios and committed to our strong, continuing collaboration with Lionsgate.” Former ABC drama executive Bendavid took the job of running the joint venture as head of programming in 2020.
She will now segue to a role at BBC Studios Productions. She will become EVP, Scripted Programming for BBC Studios Productions, as will Angie Stephenson, who was previously SVP, Scripted Development at BBC Studios and an exec producer on Ghosts.
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