eOne hires DRG’s Hedges

Entertainment One Television has hired DRG acquisitions chief Noel Hedges for a senior post.

Hedges has been named executive VP of acquisitions at eOne’s TV division, a new role that will see him buying content for distribution and overseeing teams in London and Toronto.

At DRG, Hedges is EVP of content, and has worked at Cineflix Rights, Shine International, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and the BBC.

He had joined DRG in January 2014, as TBI revealed at the time.

Working closely with eOne’s development and production teams globally, the seasoned exec will buy drama, film, lifestyle, factual and formats that the company will then sell.

He’ll look to secure premium scripted programming at the “earliest stages”, and find new international producers for eOne to partner with.

eOne’s current distribution slate includes Fear the Walking Dead, which returned to US screens yesterday on cable channel AMC, its progenitor The Walking Dead, ABC drama Designated Survivor, the upcoming Sharp Objects and Canadian series Mary Kills People.

“Noel is a seasoned executive with great instincts and a strong track-record of securing outstanding programming that can travel,” said eOne Television International president Stuart Baxter. “He has great relationships across the industry and brings strong business acumen to support our ambitious content exploitation and growth strategy.”

He begins on September 4, and will be based London.

Hedges will report to Baxter on commercial activities, and work with global president of scripted Pancho Mansfield on production business.

The news comes soon after news emerged drama production EVP Carrie Stein was exiting eOne.