Mark Hedgecoe will join STV Studios Factual in October as creative director, giving STV a leadership change at its Glasgow factual label while Craig Hunter is still in post. The move puts Hedgecoe directly under STV Studios CEO David Mortimer and sets up a handover between two executives with very different recent track records.
Hedgecoe’s five years at Rogan
Hedgecoe said, "It’s been a fantastic five years running Rogan Scotland, helping to create the company’s successful base in Glasgow. I’ve loved working with the team at Rogan and am extremely proud of the films and series we have made. The time now feels right for a new challenge." That line does more work than a standard corporate quote: it signals that STV is hiring someone who has already built a Glasgow operation, not just someone arriving with a credit list.
He also said, "I’ve watched STV Studios Factual grow over the last decade into one of the country’s leading unscripted production labels. I’m so looking forward to working with David and the talented team there on nurturing much-loved returning formats, as well as developing new ideas into exciting must-see programmes. Now is a great opportunity to expand the label’s brand further in the UK and across the international stage." Those are the first clues to his brief: keep returning formats moving, and push the label beyond its existing footprint.
Glasgow credits from to Rogan
Before Rogan Productions, Hedgecoe worked at the in a run of roles that moved from News trainee to head of Pacific Quay Productions at Studios, head of Arts production across the UK and deputy head of the Science Unit. At Pacific Quay Productions, he led teams in Glasgow, London and Salford across This Farming Life, Imagine, Songs of Praise and The Big Painting Challenge.
At Rogan Productions, he became head of Rogan Scotland after launching the company’s Glasgow base in 2021. His credits there include The Rise & Fall of Michelle Mone, Original Sin: My Son the Killer, The Secret of Me and Freddie Mercury: The Final Act, a slate that shows why STV would value someone with factual output already geared for broad audiences.
Craig Hunter’s seven years
Hunter is due to leave after a seven-year tenure, with Mortimer saying, "I’d also like to thank Craig Hunter for his dedication to the business over the past seven years and wish him all the best as he moves out of TV for an exciting new challenge." Hedgecoe is arriving before that exit is complete, so the label is already running two timelines at once: one leader still finishing, another preparing to take over.
Mortimer said, "STV Studios Factual is entering a vibrant new chapter and I couldn’t be happier to have Mark – a creative powerhouse with a stellar career and exceptional list of credits to his name – at the helm to steer it forward." He added that Hedgecoe’s experience of identifying stories and bringing them to life for international audiences would be "an invaluable addition" to the Glasgow team.
What STV changes next
STV Studios Factual already produces The Beauty Queen & the Catfish and Disease X: Hunting the Next Pandemic for, plus the Auction House franchise for Quest and The Antiques Riviera for Channel 4. Hedgecoe’s first job is unlikely to be inventing a brand from scratch; the sharper question is how quickly he resets the label’s development pipeline around those returning titles and new ideas once he starts in October.
For readers inside the business, that makes the handover the real story. Hedgecoe is not walking into a blank slate, and Hunter is not leaving immediately. STV is betting that a proven Glasgow operator, with and Rogan experience, can keep the label moving without a pause in output.
