Fremantle has bolstered its scripted team in the US by adding a business & legal affairs SVP to its ranks and hiring Lionsgate’s SVP of TV production. Jerry Jacobs becomes EVP of scripted productions at Fremantle North America, while Nyanza Shaw has been hired as EVP of scripted business & legal affairs. Jacobs will be […]
Fremantle has completed its deal to acquire 12 production labels from NENT Studios and revealed its integration plans for the labels. The agreement, which comes 18 months since NENT first revealed it was looking to offload its unscripted production assets, gives Fremantle control of Strong Productions in Denmark, as well as Norwegian outfits Monster, Novemberfilm, One […]
Channel 4 (C4) in the UK has commissioned an eight-part crime thriller based on Miso Film’s Danish series Forhøret. The UK version, known as Suspect (working title), is from Eagle Eye Drama (Before We Die, Professor T). It will be directed by Dries Vos (Professor T) and produced by Ed King (His House), with Matt Baker […]
Fremantle’s group COO Andrea Scrosati has had his remit expanded to include responsibility for Germany, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland. Scrosati will now become CEO of continental Europe, reporting to Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin. The former Sky Italia exec, who joined Fremantle in 2018, already oversees Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Israel. He […]
Fremantle has named former BBC and Channel 4 exec Babita Bahal to a newly created role overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion at the global prodco group. Bahal becomes group head of DE & I at Fremantle with a remit to drive the company’s global initiatives, reporting into group HR director Nicky Gray. She was most […]
Lifetime lands Five Guys A Week US cablenet Lifetime is expanding its unscripted efforts with three new series set to debut next year, including a local remake of Five Guys A Week. The network has made a 21-episode order for the Fremantle format, which centers on a leading lady each week who is looking for […]
Starzplay and Spanish-language streamer Pantaya have partnered with Fremantle and Chile-based prodco Fabula on a paranormal drama miniseries. El Refugio (The Shelter) follows a family as they experience an array of unusual phenomena apparently caused by an alien invasion, but which only appears on screens. The 6 x 60-minute show is based on an idea […]
Middle East operator OSN has appointed former Fremantle and HIT Entertainment exec Sangeeta Desai as interim CEO to replace Patrick Tillieux, who is leaving the broadcaster. Desai takes up her role immediately having been a non-executive director on the board for over a year. Before that, Desai was group COO and CEO of emerging markets […]
Hong Kong broadcaster TVB has acquired Fremantle’s entertainment gameshow format Family Feud for its Jade channel. The two-season order for the series will mark the first local version of the format, which will debut on 29 August, and will be hosted by actor, producer and comedian Johnson Lee. The deal continues TVB’s long-standing relationship with […]
Bell Media’s former content chief Mike Cosentino has launched a new production outfit and struck a deal that will see it working with Fremantle on new programming from Canada. CosMediaInc will look to uncover, support and deliver Canadian productions to global audiences, working with Fremantle on both scripted and unscripted IP. The deal comes six […]
