eOne adds three to Canadian unscripted team

The hires include longtime unscripted exec Toby Dormer, who has been tapped to oversee eOne's slate as SVP of unscripted development and production for Global.

eOne has revealed a trio of new appointments to lead its Canadian unscripted arm, with longtime industry execs Toby Dormer (pictured), Marnie Sugarman and Allison Brough joining in production and development roles.

Dormer, who was a founding partner at U.K.-based unscripted firm Remedy Productions, joins the company as senior VP of unscripted development and production, Global, Television. In the role he will be charged with creating, developing and pitching unscripted series as well as overseeing eOne’s unscripted slate. He will report to Jocelyn Hamilton, president of eOne Television in Canada. In 2011, London-based Remedy opened a Canadian arm in Vancouver, with Dormer tapped to head up the company’s Canadian operations.

eOne also revealed that its current SVP of unscripted TV content, Vibika Bianchi, is departing the company in July “to pursue new opportunities.” Bianchi joined Force Four Entertainment as its new Toronto-based SVP in 2014.

Sugarman joins as senior director of unscripted development and production for TV. She has previously worked on CTV’s W5, while her other production credits include Cold Blood (Global/Channel 5), The Great Canadian Baking Show (CBC), Cash Cab (Discovery), Cook’d (YTV), Four Weddings Canada (Slice/TLC) and MasterChef Canada (CTV).

Meanwhile, Brough joins the company as director of unscripted TV development. In the role, Brough will be charged with creating original formats. She previously served as director of development at Toronto’s Lone Eagle Entertainment and was formerly a development exec at Tricon. Her previous credits include Breakneck Builds (HGTV US), Expandables (HGTV), Apres Ski (Bravo U.S.), Pop Up Gourmet (OWN/Cooking), Love Trap (W Network), and Meme gURL (Slice).

eOne currently has five unscripted projects in production, including Expecting (UpTV), Border Security: Canada’s Front Line (Corus/Netflix) and Back In Time for Dinner, produced by 3Bird Media and eOne with CBC.

News of the hires comes a month after eOne acquired a 70% stake in the U.K. unscripted prodco Whizz Kid Entertainment for £6.9 million (approximately CAD $12.4 million). The investment represented eOne’s first unscripted acquisition in the U.K. market. Whizz Kid, led by Malcolm Gerrie and Lisa Chapman, is the prodco behind reality series including Ex on the Beach and Let’s Dance.

A press release issued by eOne said the Canadian unscripted team will work closely Whizz Kid and eOne’s U.S. alternative programming division led by Tara Long,

In February, Cal Shumiatcher, who previously headed up eOne’s Canadian unscripted operations, departed the company. The former EVP at Vancouver-based Paperny Entertainment led eOne’s unscripted business since January 2017, when eOne amalgamated Paperny and Force Four Entertainment under its Television banner.

Updated: 2:51 p.m May 11 to include news of Bianchi’s departure.

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