Zoe Bamsey, the former Chief Content Officer of Factory has died after a long illness.
The Disney exec joined the Altrincham studio in 2017 from Coolabi Group and worked on shows including The Clangers and Scream Street, later moving to BBC Studios Kids & Family as its Head of Animation Development.
“It’s so hard to put into words the impact Zoe made on the kid’s business but her passion and drive to develop great shows with all her friends and colleagues here at BBC Studios will be greatly missed,” said Cecila Persson, Managing Director Kids & Family at BBC Studios.
“She will also be missed in our wider community; the impact she had during her 30-year career, on the productions she worked on as well as people she met and loved will be felt for many years to come. I’ll always remember the exceptional vision she had for identifying and developing the creative essence of every show with obvious enjoyment for doing something she truly loved.”
She started out at Disney as Programming Director, splitting her time between London and Burbank for over 12 years.
It’s then she moved to Coolabi as its Director of Programming and Development, curating and overseeing the likes of The Clangers, Poppy Cat and Scream Street.
“Zoe truly broke the mold – in every sense. There will be endless stories about fun times had,” said Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group.
“We have plenty of those too. But what not many appreciate is Zoe was every bit as strategically strong as she was creatively excellent. She was also so very generous with her time and dedicated to her friends and her craft. A rare mix which, along with her joie de vivre, made her stand out as a force to be reckoned with. The world is a little less joyful without her.”
In 2017 she joined Altrincham’s Factory Create as its first ever Chief Content Officer.
READ MORE – Factory appoints Chief Content Officer
At the time, Chief Executive, Phil Chalk told Prolific North:
“Zoë stands for creative excellence and will be an ideal global ambassador for our studio.”
After 3 years she moved to the BBC as Head of Animation Development, based in Los Angeles. There she had responsibility for the development and production of animation and puppetry for children’s.
“In 2021 Zoe joined us here at BBC Studios Kids & Family. As a Los Angeles resident, and proud British citizen, she drew on her deep global experience and connections to identify properties that would engage children around the world. Zoe’s energy, warmth, eye for talent, ability to assemble dynamic creative teams and that fact that she was loved and respected by executives around the world made her uniquely qualified as an ambassador for BBC Studios and the children’s industry,” continued Persson.
“Zoe’s glowing smile, boundless energy, incredible generosity, drive and loyalty to people and projects will be greatly remembered and will be forever celebrated.”
