Kathryn Shrubb Appointed Head of Development at World Productions

Line of Duty and Vigil indie World Productions has named former Fulwell 73 and Tall Story Pictures exec Kathryn Shrubb as its head of development. Taking over from Emma Luffingham, who is moving to Pathé, Shrubb will work closely with writers and creative partners to expand the ITV Studios-owned company’s slate. She will work alongside Laura Cotton and George Aza-Selinger, who oversee World’s development in Wales and Scotland respectively. Shrubb recently produced series two of Merman’s Bad Sisters for Apple TV and also worked on BBC dramas including Three Girls, Silent Witness and Luther. She has previously had stints developing and managing scripted slates at Fulwell 73, Pure Fiction TV, Two Rivers Media and ITVS-backed Tall Story Pictures. Joe Williams World has also appointed Joe Williams as an executive producer. He will work with the company’s leadership team including chief executive and creative director Simon Heath and director of drama Jake Lushington. Williams was previously an executive producer at ITV Studios, where he worked on The Hack and Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Prior to that, he was head of development at Vox Pictures and has held development roles at Scott Free, Sprout Pictures, and in Channel 4’s Drama commissioning team. He also worked with writer George Kay to develop Netflix drama series Lupin. Heath said that Shrubb and Williams “bring with them great credits and reputations, and I can’t wait to see the shows they help to create over the coming years”. Shrubb added: “It’s such an honour to join the immensely talented team at World. I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue Emma and World’s amazing work in developing ambitious, must-watch stories for the screen.” World Productions has offices in London, Glasgow and Cardiff and its slate includes the upcoming seventh series of Line of Duty and Grams, both for the BBC, The Party for ITV and The Boys From Brazil for Netflix.