Charlie Parsons is Vice President of Development for the National Geographic Channel, responsible for developing new projects, discovering new talent and serving as one of the network’s main points of contact for the global production community. He is across programming for both the global linear network, as well as National Geographic’s tile on Disney+, and recently added oversight of the development team in the London office to his responsibilities.

Since joining the Channel in 2010, Parsons has developed premium series Inside Combat Rescue, Mars, One Strange Rock, Hostile Planet, Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted as well as the global natural history events Earth Live and Yellowstone Live. He also developed successful franchises Doomsday Preppers, To Catch a Smuggler, and the upcoming global adventure competition format Race to The Center of the Earth. He developed the Emmy Award winning Special Space Dive, the Emmy Award winning feature doc LA 92, and the Oscar nominated feature documentary The Cave. He also served as an Executive Producer on the network’s most watched program in history, the Emmy nominated three-hour movie event Killing Jesus, as well as the second and third most watched programs, Killing Kennedy—also Emmy nominated for Outstanding Television Movie—and Killing Lincoln, respectively.

Prior to joining National Geographic, Parsons spent three years as Senior Director of Content at Travel Channel Media, during which the network garnered prime demo rating and delivery growth for seven consecutive quarters. Parsons developed more than 200 hours of programming, found new talent and executive produced some of the network’s most successful hits, including Man v. Food, Ghost Adventures and the Emmy Award-winning series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Before joining Travel Channel, Parsons was an Executive Producer with Discovery Channel and The Science Channel, overseeing series and specials, including Survivorman, FutureCar, 2057, Cracking The Ocean Code and Supercomet: After the Impact. Parsons spent the first 13 years of his career in live sports television production, working with ESPN, ABC and CBS. He is a graduate of Brown University.

Speaking on: 30 Minutes With: Charlie Parsons, National Geographic