EXCLUSIVE: Amelia Brown, Managing Director of Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and Too Hot to Handle producer Thames, is leaving to set up an entertainment production company.
Brown handed her resignation in several weeks ago and will exit in July. She has been with Thames since 2003 and became MD when the company merged with Talkback in 2017 – a merger that was undone two years later at which point she kept her post.
She will launch her own production company later this year and becomes the second Fremantle label boss to be revealed to be leaving in the past fortnight, following Fatima Salaria, who is exiting The Apprentice indie Naked in the spring.
During her lengthy stint with Thames, Brown has shepherded ITV stalwarts The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, for which she was a key creative on almost every series.
The Simon Cowell creations are co-produced with Cowell’s Syco shingle and while The X Factor has not aired for five years, BGT remains a key tenet of the annual ITV entertainment schedule. The show most recently signed former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli to replace David Walliams, after Walliams was caught making derogatory remarks about BGT contestants, which was published in a Guardian report. Brown is overseeing filming of the latest season as news of her departure breaks.
Elsewhere, Brown oversaw smash Netflix format Too Hot to Handle along with the likes of the British version of Korean format I Can See Your Voice for the BBC, Channel 4’s Who Cares Wins coverage and BBC Three’s Eating with my Ex. Shows in production include ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream and E4’s The Big Celebrity Detox.
Fremantle UK CEO Simon Andreae described Brown as “one of the best in the business.”
“She has led Thames through huge success on our genre-defining talent show hits and has been responsible for expanding the label’s slate whilst also building relationships with new broadcasters and streamers,” he added. “While we’re very sad to see her go, we’ve been aware for a while that one day she would want to start her own company.”
Brown said she had “loved” her time at Thames – a 20-year stint that included around a decade of freelancing.
“After years of dreaming of setting up my own company, now is the time to make that leap and I want to thank every single person who has helped and supported me over the past twenty years,” she added.
