Global Bulletin: Neither COVID nor Brexit Could Stop Rise from Opening its London Office

Jamie Lang
·4 min read

In today’s global bulletin German VFX company Rise Visual Effects opens London offices, ViacomCBS International, Banijay and ITN make major promotions and BBC Studios sells “Doctor Foster” format in Turkey.

VISUAL EFFECTS

Despite holdups caused by COVID 19 and Brexit, leading European visual effects studio Rise Visual Effects will open a new office in London this month, expanding its German-based operations into the U.K.

There, Lara Lom, recently appointed as managing director, has been heading the local development of the studio over the past year and will continue to do so as executive producer once the offices are open.

According to a release, the new studio will have all the core necessities required for digital production, including a state-of-the-art screening room, conference room, space for 50 artists and editorial employees, and its own British pub as a tip of the hat to the early days of Soho-based VFX work.

There, as it does in Germany, the company will handle “complex and sophisticated VFX sequences involving computationally intense simulations and large-scale photorealistic environments.” Company credits include work on Marvel films all the way back to “Captain America,” Matthew Vaughn’s “The King’s Man,” HBO’s “Westworld” and “Lovecraft Country,” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”

APPOINTMENTS

ViacomCBS Networks Intl. (VCNI) has appointed Olivier Jollet as head of a new business unit, which include the company’s entire digital portfolio – AVOD, SVOD, mobile services and products, as well as Advanced Advertising and VDSI – for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The creation of the new unit was spearheaded by Raffaele Annecchino, president of ViacomCBS Networks EMEAA, to push forward the company’s digital business and seize on new opportunities in both the paid and free streaming sectors, mobile business, advanced advertising and ViacomCBS Digital Studios Intl.

Jollet co-founded digital service Quazer, which was purchased by Pluto TV in 2016 in a deal, which saw him appointed as managing director for the TV service. Now, he will continue in that role, while expanding his remit to include the company’s entire EMEAA portfolio.

*****

As Banijay continues to shake things up following its acquisition of Endemol Shine, the company has announced Sophie Kurinckx as group CFO, overseeing financial activities of the company’s 120 plus production entities across 22 territories.

With Banijay since 2010, Kurinckx started as head of group financial control before taking up the reins as CFO in 2012. In that time, she has headed financial strategy and operations while supporting all mergers and acquisitions, including a key role in the recent Endemol Shine acquisition. Her responsibilities will now shift to integration as the companies complete the merger over the coming months.

*****

Ian Rumsey has been promoted to the role of managing director for television at ITN Productions effective immediately.

ITN’s director of television production since 2018, Rumsey’s expanded purview will now include overseeing ITN Productions News and Archives team, headed by Tami Hoffman, while continuing as leader of the TV production team, which this year produced more hours of content than ever before.

Since joining ITN as head of topical programs in 2013, the company has grown significantly year-on-year, and in 2020 is approaching 700 hours of commissioned content. The company has also enjoyed lofty industry recognition, including being shortlisted as Independent Production Company of the Year at the Edinburgh TV Festival Awards.

FORMAT

Following format deals in India, France, Russia and South Korea, BBC Studios has struck a deal with Turkish production company Medyapim for a new scripted format version of the former’s BAFTA-winning series “Doctor Foster” for Turkish broadcaster Kanal D.

Film and TV veteran Cansu Dere (“Anne,” “Sahsiyet”) leads the cast of the Turkish remake. Originally written by Mike Bartlett and produced by Drama Republic, Medyapim’s remake will begin shooting this month and start broadcasting in October.

A psychological drama, “Doctor Foster” turns on a woman who suspects her husband is having an affair. South Korea was the most recent country to broadcast its remake, where “The World of the Married” was the highest rating drama ever cable TV.

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