In Memoriam: Daniela Welteke

QUEENSLAND, May 2: Former Fox
World chief Daniela Welteke, who lost her life to cancer at the age of 45, is
remembered by those who knew her for her business savvy and creative instincts.

Welteke spent a number of years
as the executive VP and head of operations at Fox World, the international
production arm of Fox Television Studios. She left the company to move from Los
Angeles to Australia with her husband, Peter Howden, to focus on battling
cancer. She passed away April 20 surrounded by friends and family in Castaways
Beach in Queensland.

Hayley Babcock, the senior VP
of format production, acquisition and creative at Sony Pictures Television
International, spent a number of years working with Welteke at Fox World.
“Daniela and I started out as colleagues and became the closest of friends,”
Babcock says. “That happened with her and many people, which alone tells you
volumes about the kind of woman she was: kind, honest, intelligent, strong,
loving, discreet, dignified, talented, considerate. Daniela was a strategic
thinker and a consummate professional while at the same time she did not have a
ruthless bone in her body, nor was she ever unfair to anyone. When she learned
that she had cancer, she also taught me and everyone around her what it meant
to be a fighter and to be a woman of dignity. I am honored to have had her as a
friend, I will miss her more than words can say and I truly believe that anyone
who knew her has lived a richer life for it.”

“Everyone who had the
opportunity to work with her will never forget her spirit, character and warm
heart,” says Justin Pierce, the senior VP of Associated Television
International who worked with Welteke when he was at Fox Television Studios. “She
was admired by both colleagues and competitors who recognized her great
creative instincts and business savvy. She was a unique soul who will be so
missed.”

At Fox World, Welteke
spearheaded successful local productions of formats like Temptation Island and Joe Millionaire. Before joining Fox World, Welteke served stints at
Twentieth Television Productions and Beta Film.

With the grateful thanks of
Peter Howden, donations in her name can be made to www.orangutan.org.au and
www.savethewhales.org.

—By Mansha Daswani