Factual entertainment producer Cicelia Deane, whose credits range from The X Factor to BBC3’s The Rap Game, is to lead all UK commissioning for black programming network BET.
Deane has landed the newly-created role of UK editorial and commissioning executive at the ViacomCBS-owned channel. Her remit will include working with on- and off-screen talent to create original content for the UK iteration of the digital-first channel, which is available on My5.
She will also steer UK implementation of ViacomCBS’ ‘no diversity, no commission policy’, introduced across the group last year.
Deane has worked in fact ent for more than 20 years, most recently as series editor of Optomen’s BBC1 show Sort Your Life Out in 7 Days and series producer of Naked Television’s UK adaptation of US show The Rap Game.
She previously worked with Optomen as an edit producer on ITV’s 2018 series A&E Live and has also worked on Lime Pictures’ The Only Way Is Essex and Celebs Go Dating, plus tattoo formats Tattoo Fixers (Studio Lambert) and Just Tattoo of Us (Gobstopper).
Deane said she looked forward to “cultivating a strong content pipeline that elevates Black British voices and the authentic Black British experience”.
