Electus hires UK-based European sales chief

Electus has poached Jonathan South from Televisa and he will head up its European operation. In the new London-based role South will work across sales, acquisition and coproduction.

As senior VP and head of Europe at the IAC-backed producer and distributor South will run distribution in the UK, France and Nordics. He will also scout for UK and European formats that Electus can take to the US and oversee Electus’ UK-US coproduction activity.

His appointment comes soon after Electus’ international sales chief Cyrus Farrokh left the company to run distribution at Propagate, the company Ben Silverman went to after leaving Electus.

South joins from Televisa International where he was head of sales and unscripted programming at the Spanish-language programming giant, which has been pushing into English-language programming .Prior to that he was at streaming platform Magine, A+E and ITV among others.

The Electus scripted slate includes US broadcast shows Jane the Virgin and and No Tomorrow and upcoming cable series World’s End. Its unscripted shows include Running Wild with Bear Grylls and the Bellator fighting championships.

Recent UK deal include selling a new David Blaine magic special to Channel 4. In 2015 it optioned the UK drama format Doc Martin and has attempted to get a version away Stateside.

South will report to John Pollak, president of Electus International, who said: “Jonathan is an industry veteran with a wealth of knowledge and experience, and it is a pleasure to welcome him to the team,” said Pollak.

“I look forward to working with him as we continue to discover, develop, and distribute programming that entertains audiences around the world.”