Television of Thursday, 10 January 2013

Source: Alfred Sarpong-Viasat1

Benny Bonsu takes over as Head of Productions at Viasat 1 Ghana

Ms Benny Bonsu, former Executive Producer & Sports Operations Manager of London 2012 Olympics, has taken up a new portfolio as Head of Own Productions at Viasat1 Ghana.

She replaces Ama K. Abebrese, who until September 30th 2012 was managing all Own Productions.

Benny is well respected and established in the media & sports environment with over 10 years experience. Started off as a journalist for MVP24/7, a successful online magazine entertainment strand, Benny became part of the groundbreaking team of journalists who wrote and interviewed some of the world well loved celebrities when in London such as Tony Parker, Dwayne Wade, Demar DeRozan, Abou Diaby, Kevin Prince-Boateng, Andrey Arshavin, Darren Bent, Jermaine Defoe, Kolo Toure, John Pantsil, Derek Safo, David Lammy, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Aside from that, she has also gained notoriety as a talented writer. Her writing gained popularity due to the upfront and straight to the point approach she adopts when writing her blog “Bedroom Diaries Of A Black Woman” which made her an overnight sensation in the UK & USA, she was also the editor for the entertainment magazine “AKWAABAUK” and have been involved in TV as the presenter of the Bedroom Diaries Of A Black Woman Season 1 & 2 and various other shows for OHTV, BBC, NBA Europe and also gained her own radio show on Break London as the “Lady of chat & soul” which aired three times a day during drive time in London.

She was referred to as arguably the most out spoken, naughtiest, funny and the woman with the most infectious laugh on road and on screen. All leading up to Benny’s latest endeavor before joining Viasat1, London 2012 Olympics!

Benny was in charge of the Olympic basketball TV production for the worldwide media. Benny is also the founder of iPresent Academy which trains and develops up and coming TV presenters. She is a graduate of Brunel University in MA International Business with a BA Hons Media & Advertising from University of East London.

But there is more to Benny than just TV, she is also the founder of BAMEInspired – which is a charity to works with established organizations to develop grassroots sports across Africa; a former Director of Hawks Basketball Academy, one of the most successful grassroots basketball development programs in London; and the woman behind the prominent grassroots football programme Kickz which is currently running at all Premiership Football Clubs across the UK.

She jumped straight into work in October 2012, by being Executive Producer for the big Viasat1 own productions “The One Show”, “Born Starz” and “This Morning”

Chief Executive Officer of Viasat1, Charlotte Gustavsson, says: When Ama K. Abebrese resigned to fully pursue her acting career I knew that finding a replacement was not going to be easy. At Viasat 1, we have high production standards. Only 10 minutes into my first conversation with Benny I knew she was the one. We share the same vision and Benny has the right qualities to keep growing the quality, and increasing the creativity, of locally produced shows.