Sky Studios, Sky’s original programming arm across Europe, today announces the appointment of Meghan Lyvers to the role of Director of Original Drama, UK&I as the Studio targets a significant increase in the investment and scale of Sky Original drama.

In this newly created role, Lyvers will oversee an increasingly diverse slate of premium Sky Original dramas for Sky’s customers in the UK and Ireland and joins Sky Studios at a time when it is deepening its investment in UK, European and global projects of scale including Gangs of London, M: Son of the Century and the recently announced The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Currently Senior Vice President and Head of International Co-Productions and Development at CBS Studios, Lyvers brings a strong track-record in developing, packaging, and shepherding a wide-range of premium, talked-about content such as Your Honour (Showtime) and Unbelievable (Netflix) as well as deep filmmaker, creator, playwright, and partner relationships around the world.

In her current role Lyvers established the strategic international business vision for CBS Studios, identifying and developing premium content outside of the US, and has worked with a range of free-to-air, SVOD and pay TV channels and platforms across the globe. Current projects include Oderbruch for ARD in Germany as well as Munich Games for Sky Studios.

Prior to CBS Studios, Lyvers was a producer at Management 360, establishing their television division, and began her career at Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s Tribeca Productions with projects such as About a Boy and the Meet The Parents franchise.

Expected to join Sky Studios in late summer, Lyvers will have strategic oversight over all drama projects commissioned and produced for Sky UK’s customers with a view to creating shows with global impact and appeal.

Lyvers team will include Gabriel Silver, who was upped to Director of Drama Commissioning last year and continues to lead on commissioned Sky Original drama projects such as the upcoming The Lazarus Project and The Baby, and Preethi Mavahalli, who joined the Studio earlier this year as Creative Director and continues to drive forward the ambition in in-house development and production, building on the success of The Rising, the first in-house project from the UK.

Lyvers, who will relocate from Amsterdam to London, will in turn report to Sky Studios CEO, Cécile Frot-Coutaz, and work closely with the wider original content teams at Sky UK, Deutschland and Italia.

Meghan Lyvers, Director of Original Drama, UK&I at Sky Studios, said: “Sky is a company I have long admired, both as a viewer of their original content but also as a long-term creative partner. Their renewed ambition to create even more prestige, world-class and unmissable programming through Sky Studios, working in partnership with the best storytellers in the UK, Europe and beyond, is an opportunity I could not pass up.”

Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO Sky Studios, said: “Meghan is a passionate creative executive with a strong track record in developing premium and distinctive drama alongside a depth of experience and relationships across the US and Europe. As we focus on delivering a broader slate of signature content to our 23m customers, we are excited to welcome Meghan to help us achieve our ambition.”