Channel 4 boosts Factual Commissioning with two appointments

16 February 2012

Nick Mirsky

 

Channel 4 today announces two appointments, boosting the Factual Commissioning team. Respected documentary maker Nick Mirsky joins as Deputy Head of Factual and Lina Prestwood joins from Current TV as Commissioning Editor, both reporting to Head of Factual Ralph Lee.

Lee says: "Nick is a gifted and vastly experienced executive producer who has a knack for getting to the heart of stories and is renowned throughout the industry. He is not afraid to take risks with formats or talent and is the creative powerhouse behind some of the most exciting documentaries on the BBC.

"Lina has a natural eye for emerging issues and stories and has already demonstrated a willingness to be experimental, creative and risk-taking in her commissions for Current TV.  I've also been struck by her innovations in cross-platform ideas and the pitching process. Together, these appointments will complement the strengths of our existing team to create further fresh and impactful content."

As a multi-award winning executive producer and, as Wonderland Series Editor, Mirsky has worked with some of the best filmmaking talent in the UK and has overseen the commissioning of five series of the BBC Two strand since 2006.  Standout films include The Trouble with Love and Sex which documented Relate counselling sessions through animation, The Man Who Eats Badgers and My Child The Rioter.

He has also been the prime off-screen talent behind 20 high-profile Louis Theroux films since 2006 including The Most Hated Family in America, Behind Bars and A Place for Paedophiles and other ground-breaking series such as The Armstongs.

In addition to working on a number of single documentaries and documentary series for BBC One, BBC Four and BBC Three,  Mirsky was the executive producer on: When Michael Portillo Became a Single Mum; the Emmy award-winning Maxwell and other Factual Dramas including Best: His Mother's Son, The Secretary who Stole Four Million,  the BBC Three format The Week the Women Went and the BAFTA award-winning Blood on the Carpet.

Mirsky says: "It is not easy for me to leave the BBC, but this is a unique opportunity to work with the team responsible for much of our most exciting television about contemporary Britain. I have sat and admired so many Channel 4 series from afar and I am now really looking forward to being part of the team that commissions them."