Sophie Turner Laing
| Sophie Turner Laing | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 September 1960 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Television executive, secretary |
| Employer | BBC (1998–2003) BSkyB (2003–2014) |
Sophie Turner Laing (born 7 September 1960) is a British businesswoman and media executive. She was Managing Director of content for BSkyB from 2007 to 2014. She has been Vice President of BAFTA since 2010. She had previously worked for the BBC as Acting Director of Television and, along with Peter Orton, was a founder of HiT Entertainment.
Early life
Turner Laing was born on 7 September 1960.[1] She was educated at Oakdene School, a boarding school in Buckinghamshire.[2][1] She didn't attend a university.[3]
Career
After finishing school, Turner Laing completed a secretarial course and worked as an events secretary for the Variety Club of Great Britain.[2] She then spent two years working in public relations and radio in Australia.[3] She returned to the United Kingdom in 1982.[2]
She began her television career as a secretary at Elstree Studios in the distribution side of Henson International Television, a division of The Jim Henson Company.[3] She was promoted through a number of positions and rose to become the sales director.[2] During this time she worked on The Muppet Show.[4] In 1989, she and Peter Orton established HiT Entertainment, after purchasing the Henson International Television division from The Jim Henson Company.[5] In 1995, she joined Flextech Television working as a buyer of content.[2]
In 1998, she moved to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), where she worked as Controller of programme acquisitions for five years.[2][1] She was involved in the buying of programmes such as Band of Brothers and the first season of 24 for the company.[3] From December 2000 to March 2001, she held the additional role of Acting Director of marketing and communications.[6][7] She ended her time at the BBC as Acting Director of Television.[5]
In 2003, she left the BBC for BSkyB.[3] In March of that year she was appointed Director of Movies.[5] In April 2004, she became Deputy Managing Director of Sky Networks, therefore deputy head of all Sky channels except Sky Sports.[8] In March 2007, she joined the executive of the company as Managing Director of Content.[5] In that role, she is responsible for the companies portfolio of entertainment and news channels.[1] She launched a new channel, Sky Atlantic, in 2011.[2] In May 2014, she left BSkyB.[9]
Turner Laing became a member of BAFTA in 2001. In 2006 she was appointed to the Board of Trustees and became Vice President in 2010.[1] She is also a trustee of the MediaTrust, a UK communications charity,[4] and a governor of the National Film and Television School.[10]
References
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