Rianna Scipio

Rianna Scipio is best known in the UK for her work on national television, as a prime-time presenter of such flagship programs as the BBC's Watchdog, Holiday, UK's Worst...?, Newsroom Southeast, Wide World (Channel 5) and on Radio 2 and Choice FM. Rianna, stepped away from the spotlight to launch her online company 'for movie lovers, professionals and wannabe's'. Now she is back, fresher than ever and with a presence that bridges Popular Entertainment, Features, Factual and News & Current Affairs programming. Rianna's personal story is one of triumph over adversity. Following the early divorce of her parents and resulting loss of the family home, her mother suffered a stroke. Instantly she found herself in the parent role as teenage primary carer to her disabled mom and living on a London housing estate, (read project). Rianna's response was to transform the tragedy into an opportunity of equal proportion. She enrolled in college, picked up the microphone at local events and boldly applied to the BBC from a newspaper advert. Her un-wavering self belief paid off and she so impressed the BBC that they created a post especially for her, a total unknown, inviting her to join as a trainee reporter/presenter a year later. During the course of her dynamic career with the BBC and other mainstream UK channels such as Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5, Rianna's interviewees have ranged from popular celebrity and former 'Spice Girl' Mel B; to live political coverage for 'Election Programme'; to mother of slain teenager, Steven Lawrence, who singlehandedly changed the face of British justice. Her brand is intimate, classy, clean. As presenter of 'Black Britain', the first of its kind from the BBC's world renowned News and Current Affairs Department, Rianna broke all expectations by achieving mainstream figures - averaging 6 million viewers - for a specialist series. She was voted 'extremely popular' in a nationwide BBC poll; received the coveted 'Race In The Media Award' and was celebrated in 'Millenium People' and 'The Pride of Black British Women', as well as in countless other media publications. Funny, sexy, clever and controversial and with a screen appeal that crosses boundaries of race, class, age and status, Rianna, who has also produced 3 short films, is set to bring a whole new dimension of exciting, interactive and thought provoking programming to global audiences.