New Appointments at National Geographic Partners

WASHINGTON, D.C.: National Geographic Partners has appointed a number of new executives in North and Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East in an effort to strengthen the company’s global operations.

Lorenzo Orozco becomes general manager and senior VP for National Geographic Partners in Latin America. He joined Fox International Channels as general manager for Mexico. He will continue to work out of Mexico City and is charged with building revenue for National Geographic Partners’s businesses in Latin America, including channels, publishing, digital and travel. He will report to Edgar Spielmann, COO for Fox Networks Group Latin America, as well as Ward Platt, COO for National Geographic Partners.

Con Apostolopoulos has been named general manager and VP for National Geographic Partners in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. He will lead the company’s business in the region, including channels, publishing, digital, kids, travel and licensing. Apostolopoulos previously served as VP of partnerships at Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific. He will now work under Rohit D’Silva, the executive VP of commercial for Asia at FNG Asia Pacific Middle East, in addition to Platt. He will continue to be based in Hong Kong.

Deborah Armstrong, executive VP at Fox Networks Group, is adding oversight of the National Geographic Partners business in Europe and Africa to her current duties. She joined National Geographic Channel in Asia during the late 1990s, and helped grow the channel business in Asia and Europe across ad sales, marketing and communications. She will continue to work out of London.

Whit Higgins, previously VP of business development and global programming for National Geographic Channels International, has been upped to senior VP of strategic planning and business development for National Geographic Partners. He served as general manager of Fox International Channels Finland for four years. Earlier in his career, he was VP of channel development at FIC Europe and a director in the programming department at National Geographic Channel in the U.S. Higgins will now lead a team to support all areas of National Geographic Partners in enhancing the existing business and finding and developing new business opportunities. He will be based in Washington, D.C.

Carlyn Staudt, the former senior VP of National Geographic’s International Channel group, has been appointed senior VP of content partnerships for National Geographic Partners. She will manage the company’s relationship with Fox Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Film & Television Distribution. Staudt will also oversee Cinema Ventures, Nat Geo’s large-format film business, and digital content syndication opportunities. She will work out of Washington, D.C.

“National Geographic reaches more than 670 million people across the globe each month through our media platforms and consumer products,” said Platt. “Our challenge is to keep growing that number in a manner that reflects the strength and value of our brand.

“As we reviewed our current footprint, we felt it was important to build a strong foundation in our regional markets, so that we could approach the marketplace in a more integrated, consolidated way. These appointments will provide us talent on the ground to help us accomplish that goal.”

National Geographic Partners is a joint venture between National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox.