Endemol’s Original hires new CEO

Endemol North America-owned reality prodco Original Media has appointed Chris Laikind to become its CEO.

The hire comes three months after Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin were appointed co-chief execs of Endemol North America, the latter of who previously oversaw Original.

Laikind, the co-founder of Stick Figure Productions, will oversee Original’s reality content creation, based out of New York. Original is behind shows such as TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters and Miami Ink, AMC’s Comic Book Men and History’s Swamp People.

Endemo acquired Original in 2007, with founder Corwin remaining as CEO. He was appointed co-CEO and co-chairman of Endemol’s North America arm in October – alongside Abrego, who was the boss of another prodco from the Endemol stable, 51 Minds – to replace David Goldberg.

Laikind was previously president, production and development at Stick Figure, which is behind HBO’s Family Bonds, Nat Geo’s Repossessed and E!’s #1 Single with Lisa Loeb. The prodco sold to Mexican financier Carlos Slim’s Ora.tv digital studio last year.

“Daniel has had a profound impact on the unscripted genre in both long form and short form and is known for creating edgy, quality content,” said Corwin. “He is very well liked and respected in the creative community and among buyers. He will be an asset to the Original Media team and to Endemol overall.”