Meet our team
Leadership
Rick Murray
CEO
As CEO, Rick’s job is to grow Workerbee and its family of labels into the biggest unscripted production company outside London. Workerbee was created in 2018, and is named after the popular Mancunian symbol that denotes a hive of activity, enterprise and unity. Workerbee started life as Shine North, who Rick joined as an Executive Producer in 2013. Early commissions included Idris Elba: King of Speed, reality series Geeks and feature doc Mandela, My Dad and Me. In 2017 he took over the running of the business, establishing it as an independent label within the Endemol Shine group. Previously he produced and directed both documentary and reality series for all the major broadcasters in the UK. Projects included Racing Legends, Dragons’ Den, The Restaurant and Wife Swap.
Michelle Chappell
Managing Director
Michelle has overall responsibility for driving new business and growing Workerbee’s slate of entertainment and documentary. Before joining Workerbee in 2019, Michelle spent 25 years between commissioning and production. She was a commissioning editor in the Channel 4 Documentaries department and Channel 5 Factual, repsonsible for a wide range of series such as The Supervet, Secret Life of the Zoo, Rich House Poor House and World's Toughest Prisons. Prior to commissioning, Michelle worked for the BBC, ITV and in factual entertainment production for 12 years, where she also launched daily programme The One Show for BBC1. She started off as a journalist and producer for ITN.
Ben Mitchell
Creative Director
Ben has more than 25 years experience in the TV industry as a programme maker. In his previous role as Head of Popular Factual at Shine TV he co-developed and exec produced BAFTA and RTS award winning series, The Island with Bear Grylls, also launching the celebrity version. While Director of Programmes at Boundless, he made Grierson nominated, 60 Days on the Streets and rural dating show Love in the Countryside, while also overseeing production on long running brands including, Grand Designs. Other hit formats he has produced and directed, include Shipwrecked, Undercover Boss, Ladette to Lady, and The Hotel
Jade O'Halloran
Senior Production Executive
Jade joined the Workerbee family in 2023 as Production Executive. Supporting our Head of Production, overseeing a wide variety of shows, including That Peter Crouch Film (Amazon). Prior to this Jade worked at ITV for both Shiver and MultiStory Media for over 10 years with Production Management credits across a diverse range of programmes including Waco: A British Tragedy (ITVX), Scared of the Dark (Ch4), You Are What You Wear (BBC One) and David Jason's Planes Trains and Automobiles (UKTV Gold).
Finance & Legal
Talent
Lucie Hornshaw
Talent Executive
Lucie joined Workerbee in 2022 as Talent Executive, focused on finding new and award-winning off-screen talent across a broad range of formats. Working closely with Executive Producers and Production teams to staff shows for Channel 4, BBC, Netflix, Amazon and NBC among others. She has crewed up a wide range of shows from dating reality series to documentaries. Before joining the Workerbee Group, Lucie was across Talent for ITV Studios in the North.
Films
Benjamin Hirsch
Series Director
Workerbee's Benjamin Hirsch is one of the top up and coming British documentary directors having recently completed the epic 5 year project 'Janet Jackson.' to rave reviews. It was his second feature project after the critically acclaimed 'Bruno Vs Tyson' which revealed the rollercoaster story of these troubled boxers and debuted as Sky's highest rating original documentary in 2021. He has also directed 'That Peter Crouch Film' for Amazon Prime, 'The Bridge' for Channel 4 and HBO Max and 'Idris Elba: Fighter' for Discovery.
Hassan Ghazi
Producer Director
Hassan is Broadcast Magazine's 2023 Hotshot Producer Director. He is currently working on ‘Four Kings' for Amazon - a documentary which charts the rise and fall of 4 of the biggest names in British Boxing. Hassan has previously Produced & Directed the Grierson & RTS nominated 'Idris Elba's Fight School' for BBC2, the true crime series ‘Murdertown' for C&I, RTS Nominated faith based film ‘Being...' for BBC1, as well as various motoring series for BBC, National Geographic & Discovery.
Formats
Kayleigh Sierra-Mills
Senior Producer
Kayleigh joined Workerbee in 2017 and has been responsible for heading the casting teams on many of our large-scale productions, such as The Bridge: Race to a Fortune and Love Triangle. She is also a Series Producer, Senior Story Producer, and Edit Producer. Previous credits include: The Island with Bear Grylls, Hunted, Fight School with Idris Elba.
Simon James
Producer
Simon is a Producer and Edit Producer on Workerbee formats such as The Bridge: Race to a Fortune (Channel 4/HBO), Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge (NBC) and Little Trains & Big Names with Pete Waterman (More4). Previous projects have included The Big NHS Singalong Live (ITV), Secrets of the Luxury Superyachts (Channel 5) and Building Paradise Island (National Geographic). Before joining Workerbee in 2017, Simon has worked on Britain’s Got Talent (ITV), and in the Channel 5 Press Office. Also the winner of several writing awards, Simon’s scripts have been performed by the likes of Jude Law, Joe Thomas and Nina Wadia OBE.
Production Management
Amanda Cuttell
Line Producer
Amanda joined Workerbee in 2017 working largely across the company’s true crime documentary output. Subsequently she has worked on two series of The Bridge for Channel 4 and HBO Max and NBC Universal’s Hot Wheel Ultimate Challenge.
Emily Morgan
Line Producer
Emily has been a Freelancer since 2016 at Workerbee but now has joined as staff Line Producer. Starting out in London in 2010 and re-joining her roots in the north she has a wealth of experience in the industry and has worked across a range of genres from music to factual, shiny floor to reality, scripted and unscripted and let’s just say a few car shows thrown in the mix!
Nicky Baron
Production Manager
Nicky joined Workerbee in 2014 after a period in London, coming from a background in animation, factual entertainment and feature documentaries. Previous credits include Inside Bentley: A Great British Motorcar, Car Crash TV, Idris Elba: Fighter, The Bridge, Janet: The Untold Story and That Peter Crouch Film. She has a Masters degree in Arts and Animation.
Jess Latimer
Production Manager
Jess is now working as a Production Manager at Workerbee and has worked across multiple shows including Motor Pickers (Series 1-3), The Bridge (Series 2) and most recently Hot Wheels: The Ultimate Challenge.
Abby Berridge
Production Coordinator
Abby joined Workerbee as Office Receptionist and Executive Assistant to Rick Murray and Michelle Chappell before moving into Production. Working as Production Coordinator, her previous credits include the Bridge (Ch4), Motorpickers (Quest) and most recently Hot Wheels: The Ultimate Challenge (NBC).
Beth Davis
Production Secretary
After graduating with a degree in Television Production, Beth joined Workerbee in 2022 as Operations Assistant and PA to Rick Murray and Michelle Chappell. Responsible for coordinating the day-to-day running of the office, Beth works closely with all departments and is the first face people see when they visit Workerbee.
Post Production
Keren Aarons
Technical Director
Keren is a creative problem solver. At Workerbee he creates production efficiency by leveraging technical and practical solutions based upon his extensive knowledge of the entire production pipeline. Keren brings a wealth of production, post-production, management and technical experience from his 20 years in the television and commercials industry.
Matt Davidson
Post-Supervisor
Matt oversees in-house post production at Workerbee, from ingest through to the offline edit, across dozens of in-office and remote edits, to online, grade & QC, delivering to clients such as NBC, HBO, Lifetime A+E, Discovery, BBC and Channel 4. Matt started out at BBC Entertainment in Manchester with a background in archive research.
John Smith
Editor
As Workerbee's lead editor, John Smith hones the style and tone of every premium project we make. From documentaries like 'Janet Jackson.' and 'Bruno vs Tyson' to hit formats such as 'The Bridge' and 'Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge.' John is a master story teller at the top of his game, who has delivered for every major broadcaster around the world.
Jack Jarvis
Editor
Jack joined Workerbee in 2014 as an intern, and is our in-house editor. Jack has recently edited our smash-hit series, Murdertown for C&I, as well as cutting The Big NHS Singalong Live for ITV. Currently editing an upcoming high-end crime series for Channel 5. Previous credits include Ali-A's Superchargers, Written In Blood and Supercar Megabuild.
James Hilditch
Editor
James originally joined Workerbee as an edit intern in 2016 working on a variety of TV and development projects. In 2019 he returned as a Junior Editor working on the new series The Love Squad for MTV. Previous credits include Ali-A's Superchargers, Car Crash TV and Idiot TV. Other TV credits include Endemol Shine Australia's Married at First Sight and Ninja Warrior.
Anna Hurst
Junior Promo Producer / Editor
Anna originally joined Workerbee in 2018 as an edit assistant in the development department and has since become our in-house promo producer and editor specialising in pre-titles and trailers for our broadcast productions. Her notable credits include official trailers for That Peter Crouch Film for Amazon Prime and the Janet Jackson documentary for Lifetime and A+E networks. Anna also edited the opening pre titles for The Bridge, Four Kings, Love Match and edited the series tease for the award-winning Idris Elba's Fight School. You will find our company showreel Anna edited on the home page.
Cheryl Chinyenze
Edit Assistant
Cheryl operates across a spectrum of in-house projects as an Edit Assistant, supporting offline and online workflows and ensuring successful delivery of multi-format programming. Notable Credits include, Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge, Bruno Vs Tyson and Idris Elba’s Fight School
Development
Jonny Simmonite-Marshall
Senior Development Producer
Jonny joined Workerbee in 2014 as a Researcher after time in London at the BBC, Shine TV and Princess Productions. Working across the development of both films and formats, he has helped to create new series such as Idris Elba’s Fight School, Peter Crouch: Save Our Beautiful Game and Janet Jackson. Previous credits include Strictly Come Dancing, T4 and The Love Machine.
Eli Oloye
Researcher
With an unorthodox route into the TV world, graduating from the University of Manchester with a Law degree, Eli got onto the prestigious Banijay Brightbulb scheme and landed a Junior researcher role at Workerbee in 2022. Now splitting his time between assisting on productions and brainstorming new ideas, Eli has a real passion for competitive reality formats and untold sports docs. With Researcher Credits on That Peter Crouch Film, Hot Wheels Ultimate challenge and Four Kings.