Michael Carrington is Chief Content Officer, EMEA

Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Europe, the Middle East and Africa, usually abbreviated to EMEA, is a regional designation used for government, marketing and business purposes...

 at Turner Broadcasting System Europe

Turner Broadcasting System Europe

Turner Broadcasting System Europe is the company managing the collection of cable networks around Europe.Turner Broadcasting System Europe operates the following brands: CNN International, Boomerang, TCM, TNT Film, Cartoon Network, and Boing. The availability of these brands depends on what country...

.

Early life

Born in 1961, in Campbelltown, New South Wales

Campbelltown, New South Wales

Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, his father is a direct descendant of Jacob Weins, a co-founder of the Mennonites.

Career

After working as a DJ on Radio Station 2PK in Australia, he joined the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 as a communications sailor. Following a four year commission he joined the children’s department at Network Ten

Network Ten

Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

 in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, where he worked on magazine show "Ridgey Didge

Ridgey Didge

Ridgey Didge was a popular Network Ten magazine television programme for children in Australia.The title comes from the Australian slang, ridgey didge, which means honest, true or the real thing.- Format :...

 and game shows Double Dare

Double Dare

Double Dare is a children's game show, originally hosted by Marc Summers, that aired on Nickelodeon. The show combines trivia questions with occasionally messy "physical challenges"...

and Family Double Dare.

On immigrating to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1990, he joined the Bought Films Unit at BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 television. A year later he joined the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 Europe as an Acquisitions Executive. He was appointed Deputy Head of Programme Acquisitions in 1993 for BBC Children’s, latterly seconded to research and develop broadcast strategy for CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

 and CBeebies

CBeebies

CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...

 with the Deputy Director of Television, David Docherty

David Docherty

David Docherty is a British writer, journalist, academic and television executive and producer. He writes both fiction and non-fiction, the former falling into the thrillers genre and the latter being academic books relating to the media...

.

In May 2000 he joined Create TV & Film as Head of Television and New Media, responsible for programme development and production, where he was co-executive producer on Little Robots

Little Robots

Little Robots is a stop-motion animated children's TV series, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Create TV and Film Limited and broadcast on CBeebies . The fiction series was based on the eponymous book by Mike Brownlow, published by Ragged Bears Publishing...

. In 2004 he joined the BBC as Head of Animation & Acquisitions, where he gained broadcast rights over Lunar Jim

Lunar Jim

Lunar Jim is a preschool-oriented stop-motion television show produced in Canada by Halifax Film and Alliance Atlantis, and aired in the USA as well on Discovery Channel and V-Me. The show is based on an original concept created by Alexander Bar, and was script-edited in Season one by Peter Sauder....

and LazyTown

LazyTown

LazyTown is a children's television program that was produced in Iceland with a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was created by Magnús Scheving, a gymnastics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show...

. He introduced a strategy to commission more UK animation, which resulted in Charlie and Lola

Charlie and Lola

Charlie and Lola are characters created by author Lauren Child. The siblings were originally introduced in a series of books that were later made into a television series. Despite being primarily aimed at children aged 3–7, the books and shows are popular with adults, due to humorous and relatable...

, Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated children's television series produced by Aardman Animations, and commissioned by the BBC and the WDR. It first aired in the UK on CBBC in March 2007...

, Animalia

Animalia (TV series)

Animalia is an Australian children's television series based on the 1986 picture book of the same name by illustrator Graeme Base.-Development:...

, Tronji and The Secret Show

The Secret Show

The Secret Show is a British animated show commissioned by BBC Children's in partnership with BBC Worldwide. First debuted in 2006, it currently airs on CBBC, The Den, ABC, BBC One, BBC Kids, MBC3 and TSR 2...

. In May 2006, Carrington became Conroller of CBeebies, responsible for all the channels output across Radio, Television and Online; commissioning award winning programmes like In the Night Garden

In the Night Garden

In the Night Garden... is a BBC children's television series, aimed at children aged from one to four years old. It is produced by Ragdoll Productions. Andrew Davenport created, wrote, and composed the title theme and incidental music for all 100 episodes. It was produced by Andrew Davenport and...

and Waybuloo

Waybuloo

Waybuloo is a pre-school British and Canadian children's television series originally created by Dan Good and Absolutely Cuckoo. It was commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC, and first aired on CBeebies in May 2009. The 100-episode show is filmed by the Foundation in Glasgow and animated...

.

In April 2010, he was appointed Chief Content Officer, EMEA

Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Europe, the Middle East and Africa, usually abbreviated to EMEA, is a regional designation used for government, marketing and business purposes...

 at Turner Broadcasting System Europe

Turner Broadcasting System Europe

Turner Broadcasting System Europe is the company managing the collection of cable networks around Europe.Turner Broadcasting System Europe operates the following brands: CNN International, Boomerang, TCM, TNT Film, Cartoon Network, and Boing. The availability of these brands depends on what country...

, and General Manager of TBS Studios Arabia. Carrington serves on the Advisory Committee for Showcomotion and is a member of the British Academy of Film & Television (BAFTA).