English Entertainment
FremantleMedia inks exclusive deal with former Endemol Shine execs
MUMBAI: A new partnership between the top creatives behind the MasterChef phenomenon and production giant FremantleMedia has been unveiled.
Eureka Productions, the newly formed production company from unscripted specialist producers Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin, has formed an exclusive partnership with FremantleMedia.
Culvenor and Franklin were most recently Endemol Shine SVP of development and EVP of programming respectively.
The duo has worked together for a decade, including stints at FremantleMedia Australia, and are the creative force behind a vast array of unscripted hits in both the US and Australia. They’ve developed, adapted and produced franchises such as MasterChef, MasterChef Junior, The Biggest Loser, The Voice, Fake Off, The Apprentice, Restaurant Startup, The Face, Project Runway and Minute to Win It.
Eureka opened its Los Angeles office in January and has three projects underway with top tier cable networks. Culvenor and Franklin will be opening their Sydney office in March and appointments to their creative team in both countries will be announced in coming months.
The company will work with FremantleMedia to develop and produce projects that can be optimised through the super-indie’s international network of creatives, producers and sales teams.
Culvenor said, “Paul and I are thrilled to be partnering with the global powerhouse FremantleMedia who have the best creative network in the business.”
Franklin added, “At Eureka, we’re very excited to bring together the talented creative community that we have collaborated with over the last decade to create series that captivate and surprise audiences.”
FremantleMedia director of global entertainment Rob Clark said, “Chris and Paul are two of the industry’s most highly regarded creatives. Their track records in production, development and sales complement our businesses in the US and Australia and we’re looking forward to creating and sharing ideas across our international network.”
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
