McCauley named Head of Development at Poison Pen
April 1, 2026
Poison Pen Studios, Ben Stephenson’s ITV Studios-backed transatlantic scripted label, has announced that Fern McCauley has been appointed as Head of Development. McCauley moves over with immediate effect from her role as Head of IP Acquisitions at the label.
McCauley’s appointment comes as the studio prepares for the launch of two new dramas on ITV later this year. Adultery, is a provocative love-story drama starring Dominic Cooper and Romola Garai and written by Danny Brocklehurst, and serial killer thriller The Dark, starring Laura Donnelly which is based upon GR Halliday’s debut novel, From The Shadows and adapted by Matt Hartley.
McCauley will now work with Stephenson across both the London and US based teams to drive the development of British and American dramas.
Prior to her role as the label’s Head of IP Acquisitions, where McCauley led the strategy for sourcing IP across publishing, podcasts and other media, she was the first Head of Media Development at Hachette. In this role she oversaw film and TV rights deals as well as IP development across publishing houses Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, John Murray Press, Orion Publishing Group, Little Brown, Quercus, and Headline Publishing Group. Before that, McCauley was an associate literary agent at The Artists Partnership, working across an extensive list of book to film and screenwriting clients.
Stephenson commented: “We are now four years into Poison Pen and with two shows under our belt I’m excited to have Fern at the helm of development. We already have a bunch of development at FX, HBO, BBC, ITV, Netflix, Amazon and Sky and I’m looking forward to working with Fern across our UK and US slates to find more poppy, authored, page turney series for both markets. Fern is an incredible and kind executive with impeccable taste and I’m excited to start this new chapter.”
McCauley added: “Heading up IP Acquisitions for Poison Pen has been an amazing experience, especially seeing our first book-to-TV adaptation, The Dark, come to fruition so quickly. I’m delighted to take on the Head of Development role, helping guide Poison Pen into its next phase. Ben is a brilliant, supportive, and fun person to work for who shares my passion for finding bold stories for big audiences. We have an incredibly exciting slate of screenwriters and IP and I look forward to getting our projects onto TV screens internationally.”
Poison Pen Studios launched in 2022 and is part of ITV Studios’ stable of producers across the world. These include Quay Street Productions, World Productions, Happy Prince, Mammoth Screen, Hartswood Films and Moonage Pictures. Whilst the international drama stable includes: Cattleya, Plano a Plano, Lingo Pictures, Windlight Pictures, TM Studios, Tetra Media Fiction, Colette Productions, Good Cop and L’Intruse. ITV Studios is Edinburgh TV Festival’s Production Group of the Year.
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