Sales arm shapes up at Endemol Shine

The merged global sales unit of Endemol Shine Group will be called Endemol Shine International.

The unit will encompass the Endemol Worldwide Distribution and Shine International, and have bases in eight cities including London, LA, Paris, Sydney, Miami and Moscow and new bases in Singapore and Mumbai.

Cathy Payne (pictured) will lead ESI as chief executive, following Shine International CEO Nadine Nohr’s recent exit, overseeing a combined portfolio of 38,000 hours of owned and third-party programming across scripted and non-scripted.

Key titles will include Broadchurch, Big Brother, Deal or No Deal, Peaky Blinders, Hot in Cleveland, MasterChef, 24 Hours in A&E and One Born Every Minute.

Executive VP, sales and acquisitions Matt Creasey will lead distribution in the Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, while London-based Mark Lawrence will lead European efforts as executive director, Europe.

James Braham as been named senior sales director, UK and Ireland, while Lisette Schlipp is senior sales director, Germany, major central and eastern Europe.

In France, where Endemol and Shine remain independently operated, Shine International’s Priscilla Siney and EWD’s Solange Ribeiro-Murphy remain in their roles as senior sales directors for French territories.

Elsewhere, Kirsten Cargill and Lisa Higginson will remain as senior sales director and sales director for Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Both work out of Sydney.

Meanwhile, a sales director will be appointed for Asia. They will work out of Singapore and report to senior sales director Rashmi Bajpai, who is based in the new Mumbai office.

ESI is also searching for a head of acquisitions. Shine International’s senior VP, acquisitions, Georgia Brown, recently left the company to join FremantleMedia’s international drama division.

The new acquisitions chief will be joined in London by John Richards, who has been named chief financial officer, and Jan Rowland, who becomes head of operations.

“Endemol Shine International brings together a global team of the highest calibre, uniting outstandingly talented people around the world from Shine International and Endemol Worldwide Distribution,” said Payne.

“Our newly combined operation has a broader reach, with more regionally focused hubs led by world class executives and a greater diversity of programming across genres to offer our broadcast partners worldwide.”

The Endemol Shine Group has been shaping up under CEO Sophie Turner-Laing following the completion of the merger of three of international TV’s largest players – Endemol, Shine and Core Media Group.