Rowan Woods is stepping down as Creative Director of the Edinburgh TV Festival after two years.
The news comes a few weeks after the fest launched a bidding process that could see it move away from its Edinburgh home for the first time in 50 years.
Woods said: “After two successful years reshaping the curatorial approach, making it more open and inclusive and delivering a landmark 50th edition, I’m moving on to new challenges.”
Campbell Glennie, CEO of the TV Foundation and TV Festival, added: “We are proud of the work Rowan has done with the Festival team and partners over the last two years, to deliver some impressive, impactful and very noisy sessions as well as the 50th edition of the agenda setting MacTaggart Lecture. We wish Rowan the best and are excited for the next stage of her career.”
Woods took charge of the 2024 and 2025 editions of the biggest TV industry gathering in the UK. Highlights included talks from Shonda Rhimes, Tina Fey and Michael Sheen, while the MacTaggart lectures were delivered by James Graham and ex-BBC News boss James Harding.
The search for Woods’ successor will begin in the new year.
Her tenue was relatively short but she oversaw the elimination of the Edinburgh advisory board and a new way of curating the fest, alongside last year’s chair Jane Tranter. And she was at the fest when it launched its bidding process, which has been met with shock by many from the sector as it could lead to a move away from Edinburgh from 2027 onwards.
Woods is a former BBC Film executive who has also worked for the London Film Festival.
UK TV trade Broadcast was first with the news.