Former BBC drama head Ben Stephenson is setting up a transatlantic scripted indie backed by ITV Studios.
The as-yet-unnamed company will be based in London and Los Angeles and will focus on premium drama.
Stephenson joins fellow drama creators Nicola Shindler and Dominic Treadwell Collins in forming an indie with ITV Studios (respectively, Quay Street Productions and Happy Prince).
He has stepped down as head of television at Bad Robot, the US drama producer run by Lost and Star Trek exec JJ Abrams, to focus on launching the company.
In his seven years there, he developed and executive produced series such as Westworld, LoveCraft Country, Little Voice and Challenger.
Prior to that, he was BBC controller of drama commissioning, overseeing hits such as Luther, Life on Mars, Sherlock and The Fall, having joined the corporation in 2004 as head of development for fiction.
Stephenson started out at Granada, script editing shows such as Heartbeat and London’s Burning. He has also worked for Shed Productions and Tiger Aspect.
Following his departure, Bad Robot has promoted executive vice-president Rachel Rusch Rich to president of Bad Robot TV.
