Fennessy brothers swap FremantleMedia for Shine’s Oz start-up

Mark and Carl Fennessy are leaving FremantleMedia Australia to head a new Australian division of Shine Group. The pair, currently CEO and COO respectively at FremantleMedia’s Australian operation, will become joint CEOs of Shine Australia.

FMA said that it anticipates the pair remaining in their current roles until end-November. Shine Australia will, accordingly, start operating in early 2010 and will work in Australia and New Zealand.

The Fennessy brothers formed Australian indie Crackerjack, which was acquired by FremantleMedia in 2003 and subsequently merged with its other main Australian production entity Grundy, creating FMA.

Having worked on shows including Australian Idol and Australia’s Got Talent, the Fennessys worked with Shine on the local version of The Biggest Loser and the upcoming local version of cooking competition MasterChef.