March 21, 2012 – FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) today announced the continued growth of its global Live Experiences divisions with the appointments of Chris Arrowsmith as VP of Live Experiences UK, Margee Brown as Creative Development Director for Asia-Pacific, and Thekla Orfanos as Sales & Marketing Manager for Asia-Pacific.
FME’s Asia-Pacific Live Experiences division was launched in 2010 and has since produced a series of successful live events throughout Australia for brands such as MasterChef, Grand Designs and QI. In 2011 Masterchef Live attracted over 24,000 visitors, 150 exhibitors and 10 major sponsors across three days; and Grand Designs Live drew in over 19,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors. The new appointments will look to build on this success and also replicate it across EMEA, allowing FME to expand into new territories and enter a new segment of the market.
David Ellender, FME’s Global CEO said: "We take a 360° approach to each of our owned or managed properties in order to identify key opportunities for new ventures and brand extensions, and live experiences form an important part of this strategy. These appointments show the rapid growth of the division worldwide as we look to extend our rich catalogue of brands into the live events and experiences arena.”
Arrowsmith will be responsible for developing and implementing creative concepts for FME's portfolio of owned and managed properties in the UK, across live platforms such as theatre and stage productions, casino-based events, theme park experiences, consumer and trade expos, niche sports and paid promotional events.
Previously Arrowsmith worked as a Senior Project Executive for the BBC, where he was responsible for delivering major event concepts for some of their biggest brands. He also held past roles at Sky, ITV and IPC Media – Time Warner.
Brown will join the Asia-Pacific Live Experiences team and be responsible for generating original concepts for FME titles across all live platforms, as well as developing fresh ideas for past live experiences such as Masterchef Live, Grand Designs Live and QI Live.
Brown formerly worked as a producer for the Australian versions of The Apprentice, So You Think You Can Dance, Australia’s Got Talent and The X Factor. Prior to that, she held roles at the Nine Network's Wide World of Sports, EUROSPORT, Fox Entertainment News and Channel [V].
Orfanos will be responsible for driving sales across the FME Live Experience portfolio in Asia-Pacific, managing all licensees’ marketing activities and sourcing new opportunities for FME’s entire portfolio of brands. Prior to joining FME, she worked across licensing, sales, live events and production for Chorion, HIT Entertainment and LifeStyle Channel.
In the newly-created roles, Arrowsmith will report to Dominic Burns, SVP Licensing UK & Entertainment EMEA, whilst Brown and Orfanos will report to Dustin Lockett, VP Live Experiences in Asia-Pacific.
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Notes to Editors
ABOUT FREMANTLEMEDIA ENTERPRISES & FREMANTLEMEDIA
FremantleMedia is one of the leading creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world. FremantleMedia is part of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company, which is in turn 90 percent owned by Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's major media and entertainment companies. FremantleMedia’s worldwide production arm is responsible for many of the world’s highest rated prime time entertainment, drama, serial drama and factual entertainment programmes. FremantleMedia Enterprises is the brand extension arm of FremantleMedia, offering a one-stop-shop for all Licensing, Distribution and Home Entertainment around the world. The FremantleMedia Group (which includes FremantleMedia North America, UFA, talkbackTHAMES, FremantleMedia Australia and Original Productions amongst others) has operations in 22 countries, one of the most comprehensive global networks, creating nearly 10,000 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 60 formats and managing over 300 individual titles. FremantleMedia has some of the world’s most sought after and long running formats in its catalogue, and globally, produces such programmes as: Idols (co-produced with 19 Productions in the US), Hole In The Wall, Got Talent (co-produced with Syco in the UK and the US), The X Factor (co-produced with Syco in the UK), Take Me Out, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Farmer Wants A Wife, Gute Zeiten Schlechte Zeiten, and Neighbours.
For more information please contact:
Mary Jones
Interim Sr. PR Manager
FremantleMedia Enterprises
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7691 6515
mary.jones@fremantlemedia.com
Jumana Rizwan
PR Manager
FremantleMedia Enterprises
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7691 6114
Jumana.rizwan@fremantlemedia.com