Anne Mensah Exiting as Sky’s Head of Drama, Joining Netflix

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – UPDATED: Anne Mensah, head of drama in the U.K. for Sky, is leaving the pay-TV business, which recently came under the ownership of U.S. cable giant Comcast, and joining Netflix. staff members were told in a memo Monday from content boss Gary Davey that Mensah would be exiting and that her deputy, Cameron Roach, would become acting head of drama, reporting to Davey.

At Netflix, Mensah will be VP of content, leading the streamer’s team working on U.K. productions. She will start in the newly created role next year and report to Cindy Holland, vice president of original content for the U.S. streamer. “The U.K. has some of the best television in the world and our members love it, both in the U.K. and around the globe,” Holland said. “I’m delighted that Anne is joining our team to lead our continued commitment to and investment in U.K. talent and programming.”

Davey, meanwhile, paid tribute to Mensah. “We are enormously proud of the quality and momentum we have achieved in our drama slate, thanks in no small part to Anne’s strong leadership and impeccable taste,” his internal memo said. “Anne is respected by her peers across the creative community worldwide. I am grateful for Anne’s vision and determination and I will miss our many conversations about telling great stories on TV. We all thank Anne for her important contribution to Sky’s original-content journey and wish her well in her next adventures.”

Mensah has spearheaded Sky’s drive into drama in the U.K. Her commissions include “Fortitude,” “Britannia” and “Riviera.” Prior to joining the business she was at ITV, the BBC, and at several British drama indies

“The last seven years at Sky have been some of the most inspirational and exciting of my working life,” Mensah said. “I am so proud of what the Sky Drama team, past and present, have achieved – from ‘The Smoke’ to ‘Fortitude’ and from ‘Britannia’ to ‘Save Me’ and ‘Melrose.’ I’d particularly like to thank , Stephen van Rooyen and Jeremy Darroch for their unwavering support even in the face of my most unbridled enthusiasms! It’s been amazing and so much fun.”

News of Mensah’s move was first reported by Deadline.