Parkinson joins Merman from Fremantle’s scripted comedy label Retort and will oversee the production of all Merman projects in the newly created role, working closely with co-founder Clelia Mountford.
The appointment follows the news last week that Merman has secured a two year deal with Amazon Studios in which it will have first-look rights to Merman concepts to which Horgan is attached and remake rights to Merman-produced television series. The deal also gives Amazon Studios an exclusive two-year overall deal with Merman co-founder Sharon Horgan.
Parkinson was most recently Head of Production for scripted comedy label Retort where projects included Birds of a Feather (ITV), Count Arthur Strong (Series 3/BBC), a one-off return of Goodnight Sweetheart (BBC1), The Rebel (UKTV) Henry IX (UKTV) and two series of Chewing Gum (E4).
Prior to this Parkinson was Managing Director at indie Vera Productions for four years, where projects included Getting On (BBC4) and was Production Consultant with Sky Entertainment Production across all genres. Previous production credits include The Peter Serafinowicz Show, Undercover Magic and The Last Word for Objective Productions and Before the Flying Circus/ The Python Conquest of America for Python Productions.
Clelia Mountford, Co-Founder, Merman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Becky to the Merman family at this exciting time. Merman has projects in production with a range of broadcasters, and our busy and varied slate will be in a very safe pair of hands with Becky.”
Merman’s output over the last year has included a third season of Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon), Divorce (HBO), Motherland (BBC) and a number of comedy shorts for Sky including a season of Horror Shorts with an all-female directing line-up. Bliss, a co-production with Big Talk for Sky One, starring Heather Graham and Stephen Mangan, will air in February.
Rebecca Parkinson, Head of Production, Merman, said: “I am thrilled to be joining the fabulous and inspiring Merman team and can’t wait to be a part of bringing their brilliant projects to screen.”