A24 Bolsters UK Operations With Hire Of Lookout Point Co-CEOs Laura Lankester & Will Johnston

A24 is bolstering its UK team with the splashy appointments of Lookout Point co-CEOs Laura Lankester and Will Johnston.

Based in London, Lankester and Johnston will report to and work with A24 UK bosses Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett to “expand, shape, and grow the TV slate”.

Lankester and Johnston will continue to produce and deliver Netflix’s new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, written by Dolly Alderton, for Lookout Point and BBC Studios. Lankester will also oversee BritBox’s Tommy and Tuppence for Lookout Point and BBCS, a production we revealed earlier this week. 

The duo’s recent credits for Lookout Point include two seasons of Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack (BBC/HBO), Renegade Nell (Disney+), the final season of Last Tango in Halifax (BBC), and the acclaimed final season of Happy Valley (BBC/AMC); as well as Andrew Davies’ adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy (BBC).

A24’s UK series slate includes the recent commissions of Molly Manning Walker’s Major Players (Channel 4), Miriam Battye’s The Husbands (Apple TV+) starring Juno Temple, Leo Reich’s It Gets Worse (Channel 4), Michaela Coel’s First Day on Earth (BBC/HBO), and Alice Birch’s Ministry of Time (BBC). A24 is also collaborating on Adam Curtis’ BBC series Shifty, season two of Dreaming Whilst Black and Such Brave Girls, and is behind the adaptations of Magnolia Parks as well as the Liverpool FC series written by Adolescence’s Jack Thorne.

Laura Lankester and Will Johnston said: “We are excited and invigorated to join A24. Their commitment to creative excellence is an inspiration, and to build with Piers and Rose is a wonderful new opportunity. Our time at Lookout Point has been a real joy and incredibly formative. We are deeply grateful to the colleagues and friends we have been honoured to work with, and to BBC Studios for ten years of success and partnership.”

Lankester and Johnston’s exit after two-and-a-half years running Lookout is a big loss for the BBC Studios-owned outfit.

Mark Linsey, BBC Studios MD of Scripted, told us new leadership will be announced shortly and the label “remains in excellent creative health, with several unannounced projects in development.” We are told the pair won’t leave for several months.