Managing Director
International Production & Formats
BBC Studios
Matt Forde is responsible for overseeing BBC Studios’ international production bases and global formats business outside of the UK – including the USA, France, Germany, Australia, India, South Africa, and the Nordics. He took up the newly created global role in October 2018.
Matt Forde has a wealth of commercial and creative experience having worked in both Europe and North America and through leading teams in both sales and production. From 2016-2018 he headed up the BBC Studios’ Los Angeles Production office, where he led the development of the Dancing with the Stars brand, extending it into spin-offs Dancing with the Stars Athletes and Dancing with the Stars Juniors for ABC, as well as overseeing the multi-Emmy® award-winning franchise Life Below Zero for National Geographic Channel. The Los Angeles unscripted team produces the hit game show Weakest Link, Top Gear America and When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren, all based on UK formats.
In 2018, Forde secured a co-production partnership with Lionsgate Television to identify, co-develop and co-fund scripted formats and original intellectual property for the U.S. market. This has led to two Network commissions - Ghosts on CBS and Welcome to Flatch on FOX, inspired by the BAFTA-winning UK format This Country. The LA scripted team also executive produces Call Me Kat, based on the hit BBC series Miranda, and recently secured a renewal following a successful first season on FOX.
In India, the team has produced Criminal Justice, Out of Love (Dr Foster) and Sons of the Soil, with Rudra – Edge of Darkness (Luther) about to go into production and a new four drama representation deal agreed with ITV Studios. Dancing with the Stars, The Great Australian Bake Off, The Weakest Link and Mastermind are some of the titles produced in Australia, while the France Production team has recently won a commission for new entertainment show The 1% Club, before it has gone out in the UK. In 2021, BBC Studios Germany Productions was set up as a standalone business, after a 10-year JV production partnership with All3Media in Tower Productions. The formats business also licences many titles around the world, including Dr Foster, Mistresses, Life on Mars and The Great Bake Off. In South Korea, The World of the Married (Dr Foster) was the highest rated cable drama of all time.
Prior to working in Los Angeles, Forde was Executive Vice President, Co-Productions, Sales and Digital Distribution for BBC Worldwide Americas, where he played an integral role in rapidly growing the company’s business across the U.S., Latin America, and Canada. He was at the forefront of developing longstanding relationships with Netflix, Hulu, Apple, and Amazon, amongst others, overseeing early co-production deals with Hulu on shows like The Wrong Mans and bringing Happy Valley exclusively to Netflix in the U.S. Before working in America, Forde ran the commercial relationship between BBC Productions and BBC Worldwide and was originally part of BBC Worldwide’s Indie Unit.