Toronto-headquartered Blink49 Studios has made a trio of promotions in its Canadian unscripted ranks, including the upping of Toby Dormer to the role of president, Canada, unscripted division.

In his new role, Dormer (pictured) — who previously served as EVP of unscripted television for the Fifth Season–backed company — will oversee all Canadian unscripted operations, and continue to work closely with Blink49’s U.S. teams in L.A. and New York to execute an integrated cross-border strategy. He is based in Blink49’s Vancouver office and continues to report to Tara Long, global president, unscripted television.

Previously EVP of unscripted at Entertainment One, Dormer joined Blink49 in 2022 to head the studio’s Canadian unscripted division along with Allison Brough (who was herself promoted to SVP of unscripted TV earlier this year).

During his tenure, he has overseen a slate that includes the luxury reno series Queen of the Castle for CTV Life and true-crime title Romcon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter? for Prime Video. Notably, his unscripted team also handled Canadian production service duties for the Amazon streamer’s massive reality competition Beast Games, which stands as the largest-ever unscripted series ever produced in the country.

In addition to Dormer, two other members of his unscripted team have been promoted. Vancouver-based Vera Lubimova, who served as an executive producer on Queen of the Castle, has been upped to SVP, production, unscripted television. In Toronto, Vince Buda, who was Blink49’s executive in charge for Beast Games, has been named VP, production, unscripted television. Both report directly to Dormer.

“Toby has been a driving force behind our unscripted success in Canada, building a best-in-class, production-ready operation that delivers scale and efficiency without compromising quality,” said Blink49 unscripted chief Long in a statement. “As we continue to grow our unscripted business with global aspirations, these strategic promotions strengthen the infrastructure and production capabilities we need to scale across Canada and beyond.”

These new appointments in the Canadian unscripted division take place against the backdrop of Blink49’s growth of its overall physical infrastructure in the country, including expanded production and post-production facilities at its Vancouver and Toronto bases. The company also recently received a strategic investment from Bell Media.

Upcoming titles from Blink49 include a Canadian edition of the Come Dine With Me format for Rogers Sports & Media’s Food Network Canada, and the original unscripted comedy series Blue Collar for Bell Media’s Crave streamer. The company is also prepping three new U.S. unscripted series that will leverage its Canadian operations, according to the release.

This story originally appeared in Realscreen

Image courtesy of Blink49 Studios