Beyond Productions US

A graduate of the Australian Film and Television School, John’s early career was as a producer and director at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with credits covering children’s programming, documentaries and outside broadcasts. John joined Beyond to produce the company’s first series Beyond 2000, a pioneering, award-winning science magazine format.  After executive producing a number of other successful series for Beyond, including Discovery Channel’s first original production Invention with the Smithsonian Institution, John was appointed President of Beyond Productions.

In that role, John has overseen the development, marketing and production of all Beyond Productions’ programming from bases in Sydney, Los Angeles and the UK. His impressive range of credits cover programming for cable, streamers and Networks in the US and Australia and include multi Primetime Emmy-nominated MythBusters (Discovery), MythBusters Junior (Science Channel), Taboo (NGC), Deadly Women (ID), My Lottery Dream Home (HGTV), White Rabbit Project (Netflix), Curse of Akakor (Facebook Watch), and dating formats – Back In The Groove with Taye Diggs (Hulu) and Love Undercover (Peacock).

Joe Rivadeneira has been developing, selling, and producing television for over a decade specializing in non-scripted development and talent packaging. For the past three years he was leading Vox Media Studios & Group Nine Studios shepherding the premium unscripted slate working with Hulu, Netflix, Discovery+, HBO Max, Food Network and others. Prior to that post, Rivadeneira was leading mitú’s premium unscripted development efforts since December of 2016 selling shows to Paramount, Netflix, Verizon Go90, Spotify and Facebook Watch to name a few. Rivadeneira has also held development roles at Wilshire Studios and FremantleMedia producing shows such as The X-Factor for FOX, Caraoke Showdown with Craig Robinson for Paramount, The Science of Stupid for Nat Geo, Baggage on the Road for GSN and That Awkward Game Show for Spike.

Michael joined Beyond in 2013 to head up its Los Angeles-based office. Working closely with both US broadcasters and Beyond Productions in Australia, he has since developed and produced a wide range of programming including HGTV’s 50K Three Ways, Fuse’s award-winning Hip Hop Houdini, and Food Network’s Holiday Gingerbread Showdown. Today, Michael oversees an impressive and wide-ranging slate of projects in development for the networks, as well as managing Beyond’s US brand partnerships, which include creating series for The Hershey Company and Walmart. Prior to joining Beyond, Michael was best known for having created and executive produced Food Network’s hit cooking series Chopped. He has also served as SVP of development and branded content at Ryan Seacrest Productions, where he managed the company’s partnership with Procter & Gamble, and as SVP of development at NorthSouth Productions, where he ran the company’s West Coast office. Michael is a graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where he now serves as an adjunct professor.

Caroline graduated from UNSW with an Arts Degree and after extensive travel, began her career working at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in many roles including studio directors assistant on live nightly news and current affairs programs.  She then travelled to London to work for FIFA TV for two years covering all major soccer tournaments including the France ’98 World Cup.

After returning to Sydney, Caroline was offered a role at Beyond and production managed many series including the first three seasons of MythBusters.  Caroline was promoted to a VP role overseeing Physical Production and Business Affairs and has since overseen the production management of countless hours of production for both the Australian and international networks across a wide range of genres with a focus on Beyond’s US operations.

Sonya Wilkes is an experienced and respected television executive, who has created and produced some of Australia’s biggest reality shows, including House Rules, Bride & Prejudice, My Restaurant Rules, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, Instant Hotel, World’s Strictest Parents, Conviction Kitchen, Hell’s Kitchen, Pooch Perfect, Farmer Wants a Wife, and The Real Full Monty.

Sonya’s recent focus has been on the US market, where she’s developing and producing original unscripted series for ABC US, TBS, Hulu, and Netflix.

Her previous role was Head of Unscripted at the Seven Network, where she also worked as Head of Development, an Executive Producer, and Network Executive collaborating with Australia’s biggest production companies.

Sonya started her career in television news, working in both Sydney and London as a news producer and a reporter.