Sky Studios Chief Content Officer Jane Millichip Stepping Down

Sky Studios, the production arm of Comcast-owned European pay TV giant Sky, is losing its chief content officer.

Jane Millichip is set to leave the company after nine years. Formerly managing director of Sky Vision, Sky’s production and distribution arm that was merged into NBCU Global Distribution following the Comcast deal in October 2019, Millichip was named chief commercial officer of Sky Studios upon its launch in June of that year. This role was expanded to chief content officer in July 2020, with Millichip responsible for editorial actives in the U.K., including in-house and indie development, while also overseeing its commercial activities, and upped to chief content officer — incorporating all of Sky’s markets — in March 2021.

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In an internal note obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz said that Millichip was stepping down to “seek new challenges” and praised her for her contributions since joining the company in 2013, noting that under her leadership Sky Vision’s revenue grew from £8 million ($10.8 million) to £250 million ($338.8 million) in six years.

In a separate note, Millichip noted that she was leaving at the April and would be “sobbing like a baby.”

“The decision to leave was agonizing, not least because I love working in this team,” she said. “In the nine years I have been at Sky we have evolved from a company principally known for its acquired content to a center of excellence for originals. And we have built a commercial model that means the Sky Original brand is seen throughout the world.”

In her memo, Frot-Coutaz noted that following Millichip’s departure Gabriel Silver, Preethi Mavahalli, Jon Mountague, Nils Hartmann and Rebecca Segal would all report direct to her.

Frot-Coutaz, who has been Sky Studios CEO for five months after joining from YouTube, also announced that Sky Studios COO Caroline Cooper would be expanding her role to “encompass our broader commercial activities as well as our production operations,” alongside overseeing Sky Studios Elstree, its production facility currently being built.

As part of the move, Sky Studios business affairs, led by Julian Dexter, international scripted team, led by Jason Simms, content operations, led by Bee Devine, and director of corporate development, Rob Siegel, will all now report to Cooper.

“Caroline has been with Sky for eight years, working across a range of commercial, strategy and operational roles and has the perfect mix of skills, experience, and leadership capability to deliver the next phase of commercial and operational growth to Sky Studios,” said Frot-Coutaz.

“Given the interdependencies of our operations, commercial and business affairs teams, bringing them together under a single leadership structure will allow us to move quicker, streamline decision-making and foster greater collaboration.