Endemol Shine’s Buchholz heads ITV Studios JV

Endemol Shine Studios’ Russ Buchholz is to lead the new joint venture between ITV Studios America and Circle of Confusion.

He has been named executive VP and head of creative affairs at Circle of Confusion Television Studios.

Effective immediately, this puts Buchholz in charge of day-to-day operations at the LA-based prodco, which aims to create and produce premium scripted programming.

ITV Studios America, the LA-based scripted arm of ITV Studios America, created Circle of Confusion Television Studios with The Walking Dead and Outcast coproducer Circle of Confusion last month.

“Circle of Confusion is home to fearless writers, directors, actors and a close-knit team of exceptional executives who have built a strong foundation in both talent management and developing hit content that is fresh, diverse and relevant,” said Buchholz.

“Their exciting library of intellectual property and direct access to talent is exactly what is needed to create quality, distinctive shows that cut through the clutter. This, along with ITV Studios’ global distribution footprint and deep financial resources, positions Circle of Confusion Television Studios as a desired home for storytellers.”

Buchholz was previously at Kingdom and I’m Dying Up Here producer Endemol Shine Studios, which is the LA-based scripted division of another major UK-based production giant, Endemol Shine Group.

He helped build the start-up division with Philippe Maigret, who has gone on to become president of ITV Studios America.

Maigret joined Circle of Confusion partners David Alpert, David Engel, Frank Frattaroli, Lawrence Mattis and Brad Mendelsohn in a making a joint statement on the hire.

“Russ has tremendous experience and shares our excitement for building a preeminent scripted television label,” they said. “He will be an incredible asset as the joint venture expands its slate of premium groundbreaking shows.”

ITV Studios America also poached Dwayne Shuttock from Endemol Shine Studios in February. He was named executive VP of production, reporting into Maigret.

While at Endemol Shine Studios, Buchholz helped sell more than 50 projects in the US market to the likes of A&E, AMC, Fox, NBC, Showtime and TNT.

He also led efforts to secure intellectual property by sourcing third-party formats, books, plays, life rights, graphic novels, indie films and video games for television series adaptation.