Endemol Names Head of Newly Formed Games Group

LOS ANGELES, February 26:
Endemol USA has appointed Eric LaVanchy to helm the newly formed, U.S.-based
casual games group, which is part of the producer-distributor’s digital-media
division.

As the director of gaming,
LaVanchy will be responsible for the development and execution of Endemol's
casual-gaming strategy in North America, which includes appointing a core group
of technical, creative and business development staff. The group will develop
casual games for new and existing Endemol programming, as well as create
original games. LaVanchy and his group will work closely with Endemol's
London-based games group.

Endemol USA currently produces
several casual games for its online animation site, JoeCartoon, which also
produces and distributes animated shorts on the Internet.

LaVanchy was previously
the managing director of The Ritz Club London Online. Prior to that, he was the
founder and VP of creative development for New York-based Bottle Rocket, an
online adver-gaming developer acquired by ACTV (now part of OpenTV) in 2000.

"With the formation
of a casual games group, we have an opportunity to expand our digital-media
business into a new and exciting growth area where we will create engaging
entertainment experiences for fans worldwide," said Jon Vlassopulos, the
senior VP of digital media and branded entertainment, to whom LaVanchy reports.
"We are excited to have a seasoned executive like Eric lead the team. With
more than 15 years of experience designing and developing casual games, he will
definitely be a valued asset to the company."

—By Ned Berke