‘World On Fire’ Exec Helen Ziegler Joins Expanded ITV Drama Commissioning Team

Photo by Dusan Martincek for BBC

Mammoth Screen’s World on Fire exec Helen Ziegler has joined the ITV drama commissioning team along with two other staffers to expand new streamer ITVX.

Ziegler, a UK drama veteran, will help lead on the streaming service, which kicked off earlier this month and is aiming to stream one new show a week, with a cash injection of £150M ($180M).

She will start in January 2024 after her maternity leave ends, with former BBC Assistant Commissioner Helen Perry joining as a Commissioning Editor on a fixed-term contract for the next year. Callum Dziedzic, a Development Executive at ITV Studios Creative Director Patrick Spence’s studio, is also joining ITV as Assistant Commissioner, Drama and Comedy.

Ziegler, who effectively replaces the departing Chloe Tucker, has been working for ITV Studios-backed Mammoth Screen for several years, during which time she has exec produced the likes of BBC One drama World on Fire, ITV’s Tom Jones and Hugh Laurie Agatha Christie adaptation Why Didn’t They Ask Evans for BritBox UK.

ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill said: “With the arrival of ITVX our drama hours are increasing significantly, and it means we are able to expand the range of what we’re offering our audience in the space of high quality popular drama, so there’s big opportunities for producers, and it feels like the right time to expand the team.”