Fremantle Unveils New European Leadership Team Comprising Georgette Schlick and Former Paramount Global Exec Jaime Ondarza
Fremantle has unveiled a new European leadership team.
The expanding content company owned by German giant RTL has created two new CEO roles. One for Northern Europe, for which it has upped its Amsterdam-based exec Georgette Schlick, the other for Southern Europe, for which it has poached prominent Paramount Global Southern Europe and Middle East chief Jaime Ondarza.
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The two new positions will report directly to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle Group COO and CEO Continental Europe.
Schlick, formerly CEO of Fremantle Netherlands and Belgium, will oversee Fremantle’s businesses in The Netherlands and Belgium, including scripted label Fiction Valley, and Fremantle production territories Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Poland. Meanwhile, the This Is Nice labels, which Fremantle acquired in 2021, will continue to be overseen by CEO Morten Mogensen, who will now report to Schlick.
Ondarza, who at Paramount Global was most recently EVP Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa and Head of Streaming Southern EMEA and Latin America, will continue to be based in Rome from where he will oversee Fremantle’s production businesses in France, Israel (Abot Hameiri), Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
However the founder-led drama labels in these territories – Miso Film (Denmark, Sweden, Norway); Wildside; The Apartment Pictures; and Lux Vide (Italy) will instead report to Christian Vesper in his recently announced new role of CEO, Global Drama.
“Through acquisitions and organic growth, Fremantle today is bigger and stronger than ever,” said Scrosati in a statement. “We have carefully designed this new structure to best support our regional CEOs across Europe. Georgette and Jaime are the perfect choices to manage these key roles and future proof our rapid business expansion,” he added.
Scrosati also noted being “Delighted to welcome Jaime into the Fremantle family” and “having appreciated his professional expertise and personal sophistication for many years.” He also pointed out that he looked forward to “Working even more closely” with Georgette Schlick. “I have been incredibly impressed by her managerial and leadership skills which make her a truly exceptional executive,” he went on to note.
Fremantle, once known for talent shows “X-Factor” and “American Idol,” has been on a buying spree snapping up indie companies across Europe, including Ireland’s Element Pictures, Italy’s Lux Vide, and the U.K.’s Passenger, among others, and making a major push into TV series such as “The Mosquito Coast” and movies including upcoming Angelina Jolie-directed drama “Without Blood.”
The company’s revenues for the first nine months of 2022 soared 27.8 percent to 1.65 billion euro ($1.61 billion) and RTL has set a target for full-year revenue to reach €3 billion ($3.2 billion) by 2025.
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