Kathryn Busby

Kathryn Busby

Kathryn Busby is the Chair of BAFTA North America and President of Original Programming for STARZ.

Based in the company’s Santa Monica office, Busby is responsible for leading the programming and development team for the global premium streaming platform and delivering on its programming mandate committed to narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences.

Prior to joining STARZ, Busby was Executive Vice President of Sony’s TriStar Television where she developed and oversaw premium projects that featured diverse, authentic characters and that championed underrepresented voices. Some of her noteworthy projects include The After Party, starring Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, a Malcolm X series based on the novels X: A Novel and The Awakening of Malcolm X from his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and a series based on Kirstin Chen’s crime novel Counterfeit.

With over 25 years of television experience, Busby is also an award-winning screenwriter, director and producer. She directed the short film Max and Josh which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. In 2005, her debut film My Purple Fur Coat won Best Children’s Short at the Houston Black Film Festival.

She is Chair of BAFTA’s North American board that strengthens the British arts charity’s global mission to inspire, support and celebrate across film, games and television. Busby created a special BAFTA Masterclass for underprivileged students featuring industry leaders, and serves on the BAFTA Steering Group, whose initiatives resulted in the most diverse BAFTA nominations and wins in its history.