APPOINTMENTS
Sky Italia has confirmed the rumored appointment of Andrea Duilio as the company’s new CEO, set to take office Sept. 6 of this year reporting directly to Stephen van Rooyen, Sky CEO for the U.K. and Europe. Last week, Reuters reported that Duilio had emerged as the top candidate in the company’s search to replace Maximo Ibarra, who stepped down from his role as CEO at Sky Italia in April.
Duilio joins Sky from Vodafone Italia where he spent two decades working in the company’s Business Unit Consumer. In 2018, as digital director at Vodafone, he spearheaded the company’s digital transformation and later took on the role of director of commercial operations. Since December 2020, he has been director of Vodafone’s Business Unit Consumer.
“I am delighted to welcome Andrea Duilio as the new CEO of Sky Italia and to work with him in carrying out our ambitious development plans,” said van Rooyen in a statement. “Duilio’s experience will give an important push to the innovation and growth of Sky Italia, completing the transition towards a leaner and integrated business model with the group.”
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Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India has made several leadership changes. Rohit Gupta has transitioned from his role as chief revenue officer – ad sales and international business and will now be SPN’s advisor to the management and the board. Rajesh Kaul, in addition to his existing role as the chief revenue officer – distribution and business head – sports, will take on charge of international sales. Neeraj Arora, currently heading international sales, will now be reporting into Kaul. Sandeep Mehrotra has been appointed head – ad sales, network channels reporting into CEO N.P. Singh. Danish Khan, business head – Sony Entertainment Television, digital business and Studionext will take additional charge of network channels licensing. Tushar Shah, business head, English, factual entertainment and Sony Aath, takes on the additional role of the newly created position of chief marketing officer for SPN. Aditya Mehta, in addition to his current role of corporate strategy and business development, will spearhead the formation of SPN’s Data Analytics Center of Excellence and will also be responsible for business monetization. Chief finance officer Nitin Nadkarni will take additional charge of the Broadcast Operations and Network Engineering (B.O.N.E) department. Kingshuk Bhattacharya – head, B.O.N.E. will report into Nadkarni.
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WarnerMedia has appointed Mia Edde to the newly created role of executive director of Turkish content acquisitions, reporting to executive VP and head of programming EMEA Hannes Heyelmann and executive VP and chief content officer for Latin America Tomas Yankelevich. Working from the company’s offices in Dubai, Edde will lead acquisitions of local language programming in Turkey for HBO Max in EMEA and Latin America, where Turkish dramas regularly find massive audiences. She will also work with acquisitions and programming teams in EMEA and Latin America, as well as teaming with Antony Root, executive VP and head of original production EMEA, to commission and produce new original Turkish language content.
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London and L.A.-based The Ink Factory has appointed former Warp Films exec Barry Ryan as its new head of production replacing Tracey Josephs, who left the company in June. Ryan will report to creative director Katherine Butler and COO Rod Henwood and oversee production of the company’s film and TV lineups. At Warp Films Ryan was head of production, responsible for that company’s film and TV projects including 25 features, 10 series and several shorts. He currently sits on ScrenSkills High-End TV Skills Council, advising the agency’s training programs. He is also involved in PACT’s mentorship scheme.
STREAMING
The Walt Disney Company EMEA has greenlit a new romantic comedy action thriller, “Wedding Season,” to be produced as a Star Original for the company’s Disney Plus streaming platform. Clocking in at eight episodes, the series is described as a genre-busting romance about a mismatched couple that can’t stay away from one another. It is produced by Dancing Ledge Productions with Chris Carey, Laurence Bowen and Toby Bruce executive producing. The series’ screenplays are written by Olivier Lyttleton (“Cheaters”) and will be directed by George Kane (“Timewasters”), with production set to kick off this fall.
TV
Set to take place within the framework of Series Mania 2021, the Lille Dialogues have unveiled this year’s complete lineup of speakers, boasting a roster of European lawmakers and international TV industry leaders prepared to discuss this year’s theme: The Audiovisual Industry at the Heart of European Recovery.
Key speakers include European commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton; Nordic Entertainment Group president and CEO Anders Jensen; Banijay France president Stéphane Courbit and CEO Marco Bassetti; TF1 chairman Gilles Pélisson; The Walt Disney Company EMEA president Jan Koeppen; M6 Groupe chairman Nicolas de Tavernost; HBO Max EMEA general manager Chistina Sulebakk; European Broadcasting Union president and France Télévisions CEO Delphine Ernotte; SVT CEO Hanna Stjärne; Beta Film CEO Jan Mojto; ARTE France president Bruno Patino; Starz international digital networks president Superna Kalle; and Pluto TV general manager Olivier Jollet.
Additionally, the Lille Dialogues will close out with a speech from French minister of culture Roselyne Bachelot and Bénédicte Linard, Belgium’s minister for childhood, health, culture, media and women’s rights.
Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues are organized in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, theCNC, and the European Commission, and will take place on Aug. 31.
