FremantleMedia Australia Names Creative Execs

SYDNEY: FremantleMedia Australia (FMA) has hired Jonathon Summerhayes as its director of programming, while Beth Hart is joining the company as director of television content.

In his new role, Summerhayes will be responsible for supervising the creative and production processes for all of FMA's entertainment and factual programming. He will work under Ian Hogg, the CEO of FremantleMedia Australia and Asia Pacific. Summerhayes has been with FMA for seven years. He previously served as an executive producer for The X Factor.

Reporting to Summerhayes, Hart is charged with new and existing entertainment brands, including Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, Grand Designs, Recipe to Riches and The Apprentice. She has been a senior executive producer for The X Factor in the U.K. for the past three years. She was also the deputy head of entertainment for Thames/SyCo Productions.

Both appointments are effective immediately.

Hogg commented: "Both Jonathon and Beth are outstanding creatives and have unparalleled peer recognition. Their appointments signal an important step change in our creative credentials and I am confident that both will bring fresh thinking and ideas and a new energy to the business.

"FremantleMedia Australia houses some of the world’s biggest and most-loved entertainment and factual brands."

Summerhayes noted: "It's really an exciting time to be in the television business and I am thrilled to now be leading such a talented team of creative and production professionals."

Hart said: "FMA in Australia is producing some world-class and ground-breaking entertainment formats and I am really excited to be joining the team and bringing my U.K. experience and ideas to the table."

Hogg added: "FremantleMedia has some of the world's best story-tellers in the business. It's a formidable creative team that will ensure the company's continued success in producing entertaining, engaging, fresh content."