Phil Craig
Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer
Phil Craig is Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer for Discovery Networks International, a division of Discovery Communications, the #1 pay-TV programmer in the world, and began his post in February 2015.
An award-winning international producer and network executive, Craig leads the Discovery Networks Production and Development (P&D) team that is the driving force behind many of Discovery's global hit series, and supplies a content pipeline that spans nearly 3 billion cumulative subscribers in more than 220 countries and territories. The Discovery Networks International Production and Development group was established in 2011 and charged with creating content specifically for Discovery's international networks. It has grown to work with more than 100 international independent producers - developing and producing more than 160 hours of original content each year.
Based in London, Craig develops and oversees factual and lifestyle content primarily for flagship global networks Discovery Channel and TLC, and works collaboratively with U.S. counterparts on content sharing and development. In addition, Craig guides the development, production and sharing of regionally and locally produced content and formats across Discovery's five international operating regions.
In March, Craig announced his first five series and specials, ranging across genres like natural history, engineering, survival, science and aviation, with commissions including TERROR IN THE SKIES: AIRASIA AND BEYOND; ENGINE ADDICT WITH JIMMY DE VILLE; KINGS OF THE WILD (wt), THE BRAINY BUNCH (wt) and LIFE OF DOGS (wt).
Prior to joining Discovery in February 2015, Craig held the post of Head of Factual at ABC TV in Australia, where he led a team that was responsible for over 100 hours of original content per year. Craig drove a number of high-profile initiatives, including Redesign My Brain, which now airs on Science channel as Hack My Brain; and Stop At Nothing, the highly acclaimed Lance Armstrong documentary which aired as part of the BBC Storyville documentary strand and in numerous other territories, and was the broadcaster's first digital-only documentary commission. Craig took charge of a major season of WW1 centenary documentaries and helped target new demographics across multiple platforms. His commission about mental illness, Changing Minds, was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as 'surely one of the most important programmes in Australian television history.'
Prior to his role at ABC TV, Craig worked for UK independent producer Nutopia, where he took charge of the Discovery landmark series HOW WE INVENTED THE WORLD and was originating producer on hit series The 80s, The Decade That Made Us and How We Got To Now With Stephen Johnson.
Earlier in his career Craig enjoyed tenures with the BBC, where he was senior producer on heavyweight current affairs series Panorama, and with Granada TV, where he worked on iconic series World In Action. He also made numerous hit programmes and series for leading UK production companies including Diverse and Brook Lapping. Past credits include major series such as Hostage, Finest Hour, Live Aid Remembered and Geldof In Africa, science documentaries and hard-hitting reports on contemporary subjects such as Discovery's THE FLIGHT THAT FOUGHT BACK and 2011's Bin Laden: Shoot To Kill (called Targeting Bin Laden in the USA) which contained President Obama's only documentary interview on the Bin Laden raid; high-rating shows for Discovery Channel's Shark Week, including the record-breaking Ocean Of Fear, thought-provoking films for the BBC's Storyville strand and Sky Atlantic's The British.
A Cambridge University graduate, Craig has also co-written five books, including the best-selling Finest Hour, The End of the Beginning, Diana: Story of a Princess, and Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm, several of which were made into television series. Prior to his career in television, Craig was a pilot in the Royal Air Force.