Rola Bauer Joins MGM As President, International TV Productions

Andreas Wiseman
·3 min read

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Long-time Studiocanal executive Rola Bauer is joining MGM as President, International Television Productions.

Bauer will oversee development, production and co-productions for MGM’s international scripted TV content, reporting to MGM TV Group Chairman Mark Burnett.

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Based in Munich, she will split her time between MGM’s European and U.S. offices.

A highly respected veteran of international TV production, Bauer previously steered Studiocanal’s TV content, including Years And Years and War Of The Worlds, while also spearheading acquisitions for Midnight Sun, The Last Panthers, and Below the Surface. On the international co-production and distribution front, she handled ZeroZeroZero as well as Harlan Coben’s SAFE, her third Coben series, for Netflix and the CANAL+ Group.

She led the development and orchestrated the funding of detective series Take Two, the U.S./European co-production from Tandem, Milmar Pictures and ABC Studios. She has also been instrumental in shaping numerous international productions, including The Child in Time for BBC One, in co-production with Masterpiece.

She has produced shows including The Pillars of The Earth, Crossing Lines, Take Two, and will serve as an executive producer on the upcoming The Man Who Fell to Earth. In 1999, she founded German outfit Tandem Communications, which became part of Studiocanal.

Bauer’s exit from Studiocanal became clear last month when the European studio increased its stake in Tandem. MGM’s Richard Bedser and Charlie Farmer will report to Bauer.

Said Burnett, “Rola is an important member of the scripted creative community with exceptional taste in material and deep long-term relationships with many talented creators, directors and actors across Global television. We are thrilled to continue building on our successful lineup of programming with Rola, while tapping into new markets and audiences and further expanding our international growth. Rola will be leading that growth. I’m thrilled to get to work with her.”

Said Bauer: “Mark Burnett has passionately created iconic productions and successfully built companies, which I have always admired. He, along with the leadership at the studio, share a vision to further strengthen the iconic MGM brand internationally, which was very inspiring for me to hear. Am honored and excited to have this chance to be a part of it, and to work with the impressive MGM and EPIX teams to create synergies across the companies. As the world changes and our industry continues to evolve, MGM will build a bridge with co-production partnerships to further expand on the studio’s ongoing successful global growth.”

MGM’s scripted series slate includes Fargo (FX); Vikings (HISTORY); The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu); Get Shorty (EPIX); Condor (AT&T AUDIENCE Network); Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix) and Clarice (CBS). As part of MGM’s Spanish language joint venture with Gato Grande Productions, the studio also produces Luis Miguel: The Series (Netflix).

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