Endemol Names New Acquisitions Director

LONDON: Grant Ross, former director of international at Endemol France, is to take on the role of director of acquisitions at Endemol, replacing Lisette van Diepen, who recently stepped down after a 14-year tenure.

Ross will take on responsibility for growing Endemol’s third-party acquisition business. He has served as director of international at Endemol France since 2008, responsible for third-party format acquisitions and exclusive catalogue deals. Grant also sat on the French executive board and was president of Mark Burnett Productions France, the joint venture between Endemol France and Mark Burnett.

With immediate effect, Ross will be based in Paris, reporting to to Paul Römer, the chief creative officer of Endemol Group.

Römer commented: “Grant’s impressive experience and expertise will be a great asset to this key area of our business; one which we are actively looking to grow. I’m delighted to have him join the team as we prepare to head for MIPCOM. At the same time we are extremely sorry to be losing Lisette who has made a great contribution to the growth and success of Endemol’s format acquisition business. She has been a fantastic colleague and we wish her all the very best of luck for the future.”

Ross added: “This is an exciting time to be taking up this role. Endemol’s third-party business is going through a period of significant growth and I’m greatly looking forward to building on that and working alongside the enormously talented distribution team at the group.”