Fennessys Exit FremantleMedia for Shine Post

SYDNEY: Mark Fennessy and Carl Fennessy are leaving their leadership posts at FremantleMedia Australia to head up the new Australian office for Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group.

Mark and Carl, the CEO and COO, respectively, of FremantleMedia Australia, will remain in their current posts until the end of November. They have been with the company since its formation from the merger of Grundy with their venture, Crackerjack.

The search for new leadership is being led by Joanna Reesby from Whitehead Mann. Simon Spalding, the regional CEO of Europe and the Asia-Pacific at FremantleMedia, said in announcing the brothers’ exit: “Everyone on the FremantleMedia Australia team is committed to ensuring we continue to produce the high-quality productions that our customers and partners have come to expect from us. We have strength and depth, and we are all determined to make the necessary changes with the minimum amount of disruption.” 

Shine Australia, meanwhile, is set to begin operations in 2010, reports indicate, with the brothers serving as joint chief executives. "Mark and Carl are simply the finest independent producers of their generation in Australia," Elisabeth Murdoch is quoted as saying. "I am convinced of this not only because of the numerous huge popular hits that they have brought to the screens, but through the recent experience of working with them on our formats The Biggest Loser and MasterChef. I have long wanted to establish a creative, energetic production company in Australia as part of Shine, and I am thrilled this will now become a reality."