Tesha Crawford
Universal International Studios (UIS) has named former Netflix executive Tesha Crawford as its new Senior Vice President of Global Scripted Series. She will be charged with expanding the company’s scripted slate in the UK and Europe, with particular emphasis on scouting and packaging new projects for UIS and supporting its stable of talent deals and production partnerships.
Crawford will also head up the UK-based creative team at Universal International Studios, which sits under Universal Studio Group. She will also partner with Kelsey Balance, Senior Vice President of Global Scripted Series, who leads the US-based team across all global territories.
Crawford joins from Netflix, where she most recently served as Director of Global Franchises, and where she spent the last six years working across international original series, being one of the first content executives hired on the Netflix International Originals team. The executive started in Latin America, building the platform’s slate of originals including “La Casa De Las Flores,” “Ingobernable,” “3%,” “Coisa Mais Linda,” and “Sintonia.”
She later relocated to Amsterdam to lead the company’s first Nordics series team, developing and overseeing shows such as “Quicksand,” “Ragnarok,” “Snabba Cash,” and “The Playlist.” Most recently, based in London, she worked across global franchise series, overseeing titles such as “The Witcher” and “Millarworld.”
“Tesha is such a force and is so respected for her exceptional taste and eye for identifying great global talent. We are thrilled to have her join the UIS family and look forward to her and Kelsey forging a powerhouse dynamic to bring even more exciting voices and stories to global audiences,” said Beatrice Springborn, President of Universal International Studios, to whom Crawford will report.
“I am so excited to be joining UIS. Beatrice has such a strong vision for the creative team that greatly aligns with what I have always believed in when making shows. This is a unique moment in the industry, which is evolving globally more and more each day. So, as the studio continues to break ground with its programming and partnerships with global storytellers, I look forward to building on its legacy as a home for creators to do their best, most innovative work without boundaries,” Crawford declared.