Hegedus’ new indie scores Dick Clark deal

Former MTG and Debmar Mercury exec Bea (Beata) Hegedus has officially launched her new indie consultancy with a deal that will see Dick Clark Productions taking a Hungarian format to the US.

Hegedus (pictured) has been building Ashgate Media for some time. Following a soft-lanch earlier this year, she has now officially debuted the firm, which is billed as a premium distribution, strategy and financial services company for content creators, broadcasters and digital platforms.

Ashgate’s first deal sees Dick Clark distributing Hungarian format Virtuosos.

The 9x60mins show debuted in 2014 and has been a rating success, with a second season ordered. It is a talent-cum-classical music format, which has locally been hailed for bringing classical music to younger audiences.

“Virtuosos is the first original format to break out of Hungary on to the global stage,” said Hegedus. “Not only is Dick Clark working on a deal with one of the US networks for a local version of the show, but there has already been interest in the format from a number of major territories, including China and Japan.”

A second deal with global video platform FilmDoo will see Ashgate offer content strategy and fundraising support, while a further two consultancy agreements are set to close.

Hegedus, who has worked in TV for 20 years, was mostly recently head of UK office of Dutch business strategy consultancy 3 Rivers, which is known for aiding Warner Bros. acquisition of Shed Media and All3Media’s deal for German producer MME Moviement.

Before that, she was Viasat Broadcasting UK’s VP of formats and entertainment; launched Debmar-Mercury International, the UK arm of Lionsgate Entertainment’s syndication business; sourced scripted and unscripted projects for Fox Television Studios; co-launched ID Distribution with Sally Miles; and was development producer at SBS-TV2 in Europe.

Hegedus said the Dick Clark deal would act as a springboard for her new firm. “For Ashgate, we couldn’t have hoped for a better start – or a better example of what we offer our partners in terms of matching the right companies with the right content.

“Virtuosos is a great show but, without our contacts, connections and expertise, it would have remained a great show on Hungarian TV. Now, it’s on course to be a global hit.”