Former VICE Creative Director and Exec who helmed VICE Studios is taking up the newly created role as Head Unscripted, Global, in the rapidly growing London based company Brinkworth.
The newly created role will see Yonni overseeing Brinkworth’s push into premium docs and series for US and international buyers and SVODs – building on the huge success of A&Es number one prime time series ‘Accused: Guilty or Innocent?’ and Brinkworth’s established UK slate.
In his newly created role, Usiskin will be developing and broadening the business into premium docs and series for SVOD and US buyers. The hire will see Yonni sitting within Brinkworth’s senior management team building and forging new business across its premium slate as Brinkworth continues to grow.
As Head of Unscripted, Global, Yonni will work closely with founders, CEO Malcolm Brinkworth and Creative Director Xander Brinkworth, to steer the company’s new business strategy in premium factual and unscripted.
Brinkworth is a multi-award winning company with a vibrant slate of productions in both the UK and the US. The company now has over 70 hours in production with significant growth and success. Recent projects include returning brands like Accused: Guilty or Innocent? for A&E Global, Critical Condition, Surgeons: A Matter of Life and Death and Suspect No 1 for Channel 5, big specials like The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence for Channel 4 and Chloe Madeley: A Family Life for ITV Be.
Before joining Brinkworth, Yonni headed up a newly-created team at BBC Studios concentrating on the international docs market. At VICE, the ex Raw and Mentorn Exec headed senior roles in VICE News before moving onto VICELAND in the UK and US as VP Programming. He helped launch VICE Studios and was appointed Creative Director to oversee a raft of commissions. During his tenure, Usiskin helped steer VICE to over 15 awards and nominations including Grierson, RTS, Rory Peck, Broadcast, Peabody and Emmy. His Exec Producer credits include Paramount+ series MH370: The Lost Flight, Channel 5 trio Jack The Ripper: 5 Victims, Cocaine: Britain’s Epidemic and The Murder of Charlene Downes and BBC2 docs: Inside The Brexit Storm and The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On. He also co-directed euthanasia-focused doc Time to Die – the first feature out of Vice’s UK unit – and exec produced Vice TV’s Vice Versa: The Neglected Pandemic, 40 Years of HIV & AIDS, narrated by Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, VICELANDS ‘Hate Thy Neighbour’ which launched Jamali Maddix.
Usiskin joins a growing senior editorial team with RTS award winning filmmaker and executive producer Susanne Curran, BAFTA and RTS winning and EMMY nominated director and executive producer Jonny Young, and former BBC commissioner and RTS, Peabody, and Grierson winning executive Eamon Hardy working on Brinkworth’s US output. Head of Popular Factual Lorna Dawn Creanor works alongside Xander and Malcolm on projects for the BBC, ITV, C4 and C5.
Xander Brinkworth said: “Yonni is a kind and amazingly talented person with a track record of creating and building award-winning hits across the premium unscripted space. We are delighted that he is joining the company and look forward to him driving us into new spaces with the SVOD’s and the wider US market.”
Yonni said: “Brinkworth is one of the most exciting companies in the UK right now, with an incredible reputation in the US for their Accused universe. The prospect of working with Malcolm, Xander and
the incredibly talented team and growing the business is an opportunity I couldn’t ignore. Brinkworth has an astonishing slate of productions and the ethos here is also very important to me. I can’t wait to help steer Brinkworth into the next stage of its rapid growth.
Malcolm Brinkworth said: “Yonni’s appointment marks another stage in the company’s growth. We are very focused here on building a dynamic and vibrant production company across the major unscripted markets across the world. We have a clear strategy for the future and we are thrilled to have Yonni on board as we plan for 2024, 2025 and beyond.”