John Keeling

John is a Senior Partner in Media & Entertainment at Elevate Talent. John began his career in executive search in 2011 and then joined Mission Bay in 2015. Mission Bay joined the firm in March 2022.

He has successfully delivered a wide range of senior recruitment assignments across the media industry. Roles have included the most senior executive, commercial, and creative positions, and clients have ranged across broadcasters, production companies, creative/media agencies, media owners, and global brands. Assignments have included work in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.

 

Prior to starting in executive search, John’s own career spanned more than 25 years in UK production and broadcasting. Following four years producing music videos in the early 1980’s, he joined the team at MTV Europe prior to its launch in 1986. This was followed by six years with Sky Television where John sat on the senior management team with overall responsibility for the film channels. John went on to accept roles as Director of Programming for the launch of the Disney Channel and General Manager for the Film4 channel before joining the BBC as Controller of the UKTV channels in 2001. Promoted to COO in 2004, John left the business in 2007 after acting as CEO for the final six months of his tenure. Having qualified and practiced independently as an executive coach, John spent the years between 2009 and 2011 launching the SeeSaw VOD platform before moving into search.

 

This deep operational experience, coupled with time spent working as an executive coach, aligns with the consultative approach followed by SRI in assisting media companies identify and hire the best cross-sector senior talent globally.