Shine Australia Launch
CREATIVE PAIR SHINE THROUGH AT LOCAL LAUNCH OF MEDIA PRODUCTION OPERATION
Elisabeth Murdoch admits it is "incredibly important for me" to launch the Australian arm of her growing global production company, Shine, at The Press Club in Melbourne.
After all, the Flinders Street restaurant resides in the former home of her father Rupert's Herald & Weekly Times, which became part of News Corporation (owner of The Australian).
"Melbourne is the spiritual home of my family," she notes.
But Murdoch and Shine president Alex Mahon were keen to cede centre stage because Shine Australia's launch is, Murdoch says, "all about the boys".
The boys are SA's joint chief executives, Mark and Carl Fennessy, who left Fremantle Media Australia last year to establish in January the local arm of Murdoch's group, which now includes US company Reveille (maker of The Office, Ugly Betty, The Biggest Loser), Britain's Kudos (Life on Mars, Spooks), Shine (Merlin, and all MasterChef franchises), Princess Productions, Dragonfly and others.
The Press Club launch on Friday also celebrated the property providing the wind beneath the wings of the start-up. The restaurant's founder, George Calombaris, is a co-host of MasterChef Australia, the series that concreted the Fennessys' credentials here.
Murdoch says it is "a dream to come home" to launch an Australian production unit but added: "I wouldn't have done it without them".
Shine's mantra is finding the best creative entrepreneurs in the industry and Murdoch believes she has two more of them. "And this is one market I would never take lightly," she adds.
While Shine reinvigorated the decades-old MasterChef property in Britain, its massive Australian success under the Fennessys' guidance at FMA has sparked recent format sales in eight more European and Asian territories ahead of its US premiere with Gordon Ramsay this year on the Fox Network.
Mark Fennessy is proud of his time at FMA, where he merged his former production company, Crackerjack, with Grundys and launched eight new series, which all returned, in two years, including The Biggest Loser, So You Think You Can Dance and Project Runway, while also overseeing Neighbours and Australian Idol.
"We learnt a lot and left on extremely good terms," Fennessy says. "We wanted to leave with respect and grace. We've handed them a rocking business."
Nevertheless, FMA's new chief executive Ian Hogg will be nervous about the Shine start-up. The Fennessys' non-solicitation clause ends on June 30.
"Fremantle are pretty jumpy and I'm wondering why cars seem to be changing lanes behind me when I do," Fennessy says with a laugh. He says FMA has little to worry about because the country's best show runners are all contracted for months anyway.
The brothers' move into a five-year "earn-out" deal with Shine was nearly explosive after a contractual dispute over future rights to MasterChef hinging on whether the contract was defined by "years" or "series".
Now resolved, FMA will produce the current MasterChef series and one other and maintain a back-end enterprise agreement with Shine Australia until mid-2011. Shine Australia has immediate spin-off series rights, which it will utilise with production of Junior MasterChef for Ten.
It, and the local version of long-running French game show Numbers and Letters (Countdown in Britain) for SBS are Shine Australia's first major productions and rights to The Biggest Loser will revert to SA from FMA. Fennessy says both Seven and Nine are bidding for that franchise and he expects a new, multi-year deal to be signed mid-year.
Murdoch, Mahon and the Fennessys met with Foxtel's Brian Walsh on Friday and will meet with the free-to-air networks in Sydney today and tomorrow. Fennessy anticipates more production announcements in coming weeks. These are likely to include the fruit of its recent format output deal with British distributor RDF Rights, which includes coming series of Secret Millionaire, Ladette to Lady and How To Look Good Naked for Nine and How The Other Half Live for Seven.
Fennessy adds "it's an exciting time in the content business" with the broadcasting world changing and new digital multi-channels giving networks "buoyancy".
(Michael Bodey, The Australian)
Press Article:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/creative-pair-shine-through-at-local-launch-of-media-production-operation/story-e6frg996-1225825234855
Added On Wednesday, February 10, 2010