Amazon has created a new Europe-wide role of head of diversity, equity and inclusion for Amazon Studios and Prime Video, and hired one of the top diversity execs at the BBC, Miranda Wayland.
Wayland — set to join later this year — has spent five years at the BBC and is currently head of creative diversity, responsible for overseeing the broadcaster’s overall on-air diversity and inclusion strategies across its output. Prior to joining the BBC, she was diversity manager at ITV for a decade.
At Amazon, Wayland’s responsibilities will include working closely across the European originals, business affairs, public policy, marketing and other teams to deliver programs in the U.K. and across Europe designed to increase diversity, equity and inclusion across Prime Video and Amazon Studios. The Hollywood Reporter understands her role will also impact both offscreen and onscreen representation for Prime Video.
The hire comes less than a year after Amazon Studios released a division-wide inclusion policy and “playbook,” including guidelines for its collaborators in the creative community. Although written to be U.S. specific, Amazon’s European teams have since been creating their own adaptations.
Amazon Prime has been ramping up its operations in Europe, particularly in the U.K., where it recently struck a major deal with the Pinewood Group to take control of 450,000 square feet at its historic Shepperton Studios.
