GEORGE DIXON
A highly experienced media executive, George Dixon has played a pivotal role in shaping the UK television landscape. Over his career, he has held senior positions at major broadcasters, including the BBC and Channel 4, where he was responsible for commissioning some of the most iconic shows of the past two decades. His work brought Sherlock, Luther, and Top Gear to the BBC, while also introducing Black Mirror and Homeland to UK audiences via Channel 4. With a strategic focus on content development, audience engagement, and international distribution, George now lends his expertise to Trident Digital Media, providing consultancy on content strategy and media partnerships.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
TONY SIMPSON
Tony Simpson brings a wealth of experience to his role as COO of Trident Digital Media, combining a strong background in business, technology, and entertainment. With two decades of expertise spanning fintech, business management and investment, Tony has a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. His leadership at various startups and established companies has been marked by his ability to harness data to fuel business success and streamline operations.
COO
JAMES PENFOLD
A specialist in brand partnerships, content licensing, and commercial strategy, James Penfold has led major IP expansions across media, entertainment, and visitor attractions. James has decades of experience from BT, Publicis Entertainment & ITV, where he has helped optimise I.P globally through strategic licensing, content syndication and experiential marketing. Beyond licensing and partnerships, James has a deep understanding of media rights, sponsorships, and audience engagement, ensuring that entertainment brands maximise their commercial potential across both digital and real-world platforms.
DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS
OLI DAVIS
Using a mixture of creativity and analytics, Oli has overseen the company's growth into multiple new areas such as podcasts, live events, broadcast television shows, live-streaming, print media, merchandise and websites with WrestleTalk.com - which became one of the world's biggest wrestling news sites in 2020 - and new verticals, like board games with No Rolls Barred. Before WrestleTalk, Oli worked in production and live broadcast transmission for Channel 4, Bauer Media, ESPN, BT Sport and NBCU. He has a Masters in Film Studies.
HEAD OF DIGITAL CONTENT
DAVE BRADSHAW
A lifelong wrestling fan, Dave has spent over 15 years as a play-by-play commentator and become one of the most recognisable voices in independent wrestling worldwide. He is also an NCTJ-trained journalist who regularly writes features for WrestleTalk Magazine and is currently preparing to author his first book. He has previously reported news for national and local media and also has experience working in the UK Parliament and in the higher education sector. Now working full time for Trident, he divides his time between writing content, developing new projects and coordinating the creative output across our channels.
HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT
RICHARD DUNN
With a background in the delivery of live events and their associated merchandise, Rich took the UK’s New Generation Wrestling from small attendances in community centres to worldwide TV and the biggest wrestling contract in Europe, running close to 100 shows a year at Butlins Holiday Resorts. Under his leadership NGW has become the biggest touring, family-friendly wrestling brand in the UK and sells over 100,000 units of merchandise per year. He regularly undertakes duties such as talent management, venue booking, branding, operations & logistics, production, and overall team leadership.
HEAD OF LIVE EVENTS
DAN BERLINKA
Dan Berlinka is a BAFTA-winning writer, director and producer and co-created and co-wrote “The A List” for Kindle Entertainment/Lionsgate/CBBC/Netflix worldwide, with Dan as an EP over the series. Award winning online mystery drama “Dixi” ran for four series on CBBC and won a Bafta in 2014. Dan’s 10 x 30’ original children's comedy series “Lagging” debuted on CBBC in 2021 and ran for two more series, the third airing at the end of 2023. His TV credits also include episodes of “Thunderbirds are go” (ITV), “Casualty” (BBC) – for which he recently also directed an episode he wrote, “Get Even” (CBBC / Netflix), BBC iPlayer, “Shaun the Sheep” (Aardman/CBBC), “Hollyoaks” (Lime/C4), amongst many others.
HEAD OF SCRIPTED
Abbie is the Head of Social Media at Trident. She originally joined part-time alongside an agency position which gave her 6 years of experience in social media marketing across a number of avenues. Originally helping to revitalise the existing channels in order to begin growing their audiences again, Abbie then took on the responsibility of creating and managing social channels for new projects. In March 2022, she then became our full time Head of Social Media and now oversees the social presence of not only our in-house channels but those of clients who look to us in order to enhance their social presence.
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTANDREA GORDILHO
Abbie is the Head of Social Media at Trident. She originally joined part-time alongside an agency position which gave her 6 years of experience in social media marketing across a number of avenues. Originally helping to revitalise the existing channels in order to begin growing their audiences again, Abbie then took on the responsibility of creating and managing social channels for new projects. In March 2022, she then became our full time Head of Social Media and now oversees the social presence of not only our in-house channels but those of clients who look to us in order to enhance their social presence.
HEAD OF SOCIAL STRATEGYABBIE PAIN
Laurie Blake is the head of production and a featured host on WrestleTalk, speaking daily to over 100k viewers. Laurie previously worked as a freelance video editor for Sony, and as a voiceover artist for ITN, where his videos reached views in the tens of millions. This experience has made him the ideal Head of Production for Trident. Yet, this promoting has not prevented him from being an onscreen stand-out for channel’s like No Rolls Barred.
HEAD OF VIDEO PRODUCTIONLAURIE BLAKE
WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH…
