Chris Philip

January 2008

President of Worldwide Sales

Power

Firmly established as one of Europe’s leading drama producers, Power has spent the last six months bolstering its profile in the rest of the world, led by its recently installed president of worldwide sales, Chris Philip.

Most recently the VP of international sales for Latin America at NBC Universal International Television Distribution, Philip has embraced his new worldwide mandate since joining Power in 2007. The company has appointed sales executives for Latin America and Asia, Pepe Echegaray and George Sakkalli, respectively, and set up sales offices for those regions in Miami and Singapore. Power is also expanding in the U.S., recently closing a deal with NBC for the 13-part series Robinson Crusoe. Philip says it’s “a series that attracts attention on a global basis. It’s MacGyver in a loincloth, and NBC’s stamp makes it that much more desirable.”

Power has other deals in the U.S. brewing, with a new mini-series for a “major network,” Philip says, as well as an American co-production with Reveille based on a Latin American comedy format. Philip is also exploring content for U.S. Hispanic audiences. “We just signed up a production company, in Miami, as our U.S. Hispanic feature-film division. They’ll be co-producing with us about three feature films a year, and we have three projects in development. We’re looking for that ‘My Big Fat Latin Wedding.’”

Looking ahead, another priority for Philip is new-media content targeted to young-adult viewers. “It comes down to finding these independent, young, aggressive producers that understand what teenagers want and giving them the capital and the freedom to develop [new content]. Out of those projects could come a full order once the success is measured via Internet traffic.”

Philip says that Power is also looking at co-productions in Asia, particularly Korea and Singapore, and is planning to ramp up its home-entertainment business. It recently hired a former Playboy Entertainment Group executive, Andy Schreiber, to lead this division as senior VP. “When you look at our product, Robinson Crusoe or Ice or Flood, it’s so perfect for DVD. The artwork itself will sell copies. We’ve had tremendous success with Flood in the U.K., with record-breaking sales figures on DVD.”

Meanwhile, Philip is continuing to place Power product on TV broadcasters around the world. “We’ve been closing significant, multiyear volume deals in various markets worldwide. We have sold Flood in over 50 countries. And during the last few months we concluded several key volume deals in Central and Eastern Europe and in Latin America.”

Noting that Power doubled its revenues in 2007, Philip stresses the leadership role of chairman and CEO Justin Bodle. “His commitment in continuously producing outstanding quality makes our sales strategy much easier to create and follow.”