Matt Creasey has been appointed Senior Executive Vice President, World excluding EMEA, overseeing sales, acquisitions and co-productions across a range of territories. Stephen Driscoll serves as Senior Executive Vice President, EMEA, responsible for the division’s finished programme and format sales strategy across the region. Rachel Job is Executive Vice President, Content, leading Banijay Rights’ content and acquisitions strategy. Shaun Keeble, Senior Vice President, Monetisation, oversees the commercial exploitation of the catalogue across digital platforms. Andrew Dickens, Executive Vice President, Communications & Marketing, is responsible for the division’s PR and marketing strategy.
The global sales operation also includes Rashmi Bajpai, EVP, Asia; Lyle Bettson-Barker, SVP, Australia and New Zealand; Elliott Chalkley, SVP, UK and Ireland; Marion Vergnaud, SVP, Nordics; Alex Le Merle, SVP, Benelux; Debra Bergg, SVP, Italy & Iberia; Isabelle Queme, SVP, French-speaking Europe; Isabelle Helle, SVP, German-speaking Europe; Jane Rimer, SVP, Canada; Lauren Farrar, SVP, USA; Michelle Wasserman, SVP, Latin America; Alexander Rubanov, VP, Romania, CIS, Ukraine, Georgia & Baltics; Samia Moktar, VP, CEE; Gabriel Andrews, VP, UK; Sarah Loughrey, VP, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus & Malta; Lizzy Ribeiro, VP, Middle East, Africa & Israel; Lottie Wilson, VP, Australia and New Zealand; Pertash Koul, VP, Asia; Cristina Smith, VP, USA; Ivania Zamora, VP, Latin America; and Emily Lawn, Sales Manager, Inflight, Transport & Clips.
“We are entering this next chapter with an extraordinary catalogue, first-class team and a broad reach of expertise. Uniting the strengths of both businesses, we have created a distribution powerhouse with the scale and capabilities to deliver growth for the group and even greater value for our producers, partners and clients around the world,” said Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights.
Jane Turton, Deputy CEO, Banijay Entertainment, said: “Cathy is an outstanding leader. She is passionate about the business and is known and respected by everyone in the market. With huge energy and deep knowledge, she has assembled an exceptional team to work with her producers and the vast and growing client base. Banijay Rights is positioned at the heart of the group, with a very clear ambition to continue to grow the revenues generated from rights’ exploitation across multiple platforms and all markets around the world.”
The combined 265,000-hour catalogue spans drama, comedy, entertainment, factual, reality, family, formats and theatrical content from Banijay Entertainment’s more than 170 in-house labels and a range of third-party producers. The portfolio includes Midsomer Murders, sold in more than 200 territories; Peaky Blinders, sold to 190 territories; and SAS Rogue Heroes, sold to 180 territories. Among the formats in the catalogue are MasterChef, named the World’s Most Successful Cookery Television Format by Guinness World Records, and The Traitors, which has been adapted in 40 territories and has received multiple Emmy awards.
