Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees has joined the board of of Bafta-winning TV production company Plimsoll Productions.
The firm makes documentaries for Netflix, ITV and Channel 4, and is headquartered in Bristol but also has offices in Cardiff and Los Angeles.
Mr Rees will provide strategic advice to chief executive Grant Mansfield and the board on matters such as commercial opportunities, talent, diversity and sustainability, according to Plimsoll.
Plimsoll said Mr Rees "was instrumental" in bringing one of Channel 4’s regional hubs to the city.
“Marvin is a dynamic leader who shares our ambitions and values: we both want to see Plimsoll and Bristol continue to grow its national and international reputation as a centre of creative excellence, fuelled by a diversity of local talent,” said Mr Mansfield.
Mr Rees added: “Plimsoll has a well-deserved reputation for making ground-breaking programmes through creative partnerships, distributed through new platforms.
“I’ve also been very impressed by the company’s commitment to inclusion, opening the doors of opportunity to talent from a wider range of backgrounds. It’s the commitment to excellence, success and values that I believe makes Plimsoll such a stand-out company.”
The news follows a successful year for Plimsoll, which ranked third in the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 table for 2020 after profits surged 116.12 per cent in the financial year ending August 2019 - up to to £7.3million.
The company has been scaling up its activities over the last month, it said, following an investment by LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank, which valued the business at more than £80million.
It recently also completed its acquisition of distributor Magnify Media, opening up a sales division within the company.
The indie has projected to nearly double in size in the next year, with more than 20 series in production. It has scored high-profile commissions including Tiny World from Apple TV+ and Netflix series Night On Earth.
