Mipcom: Fox’s Marion Edwards Receives Variety Vanguard Award (PHOTO GALLERY)
CANNES, France — Marion Edwards, president of international at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, received the inaugural Variety Vanguard Award at the Mipcom TV conference Tuesday. The award recognizes individuals who make great contributions to the growth of the global television business. Edwards, who has been a Fox exec for 24 years, will step down from her post at year’s end.
The award presentation at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals was followed by an onstage interview with Henry Chu, Variety’s Europe bureau chief. At the start of the event, Fox showed a video in which some of the executives and producers she’s worked with over her 40-year career shared their thoughts about the contribution Edwards has made to the industry.
Those contributing to the video-reel included Dana Walden and Gary Newman, the joint chairmen and CEOs at Fox Television Group, Jim Gianopulos, until last month the chairman/CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, Howard Gordon, executive producer on “24,” “Homeland” and “Tyrant,” and Gail Berman, chairman and CEO of The Jackal Group and executive producer of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
After the event, Variety and Fox held a cocktail reception at the Carlton Hotel in honor of Edwards, where she was joined by her many friends in the business. Among Fox executives at the event were Mark Kaner, president of Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, and Gina Brogi, president, global distribution at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, who takes the reins from Edwards on Jan. 1.
Guests at the cocktail included Berman, Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, president, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution, Ruediger Boess, acquisitions head at Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, Herve Payan, CEO of HBO Europe, and Daniel Solnicki, head of worldwide TV and digital distribution at DreamWorks Animation.
Further guests included Nick Lee, Channel 4’s acquired series manager, Manuela Huhn, VP acquisitions of RTL Germany, Alexandre Moussard, M6’s deputy head of acquisitions, Stephen Baldwin, Foxtel head of channels and operations, and Alix Goldschmidt, Orange VP, film and TV acquisitions.
Mark Kaner, president of Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, and Marion Edwards at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals (Photo: Courtesy of Lionel Urman/Fox)
Marion Edwards and Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, president, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution at the Carlton Hotel (Photo: Courtesy of Lionel Urman/Fox)
Gina Brogi, president, global distribution at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, and Jonathan Davis, 20th Century Fox Television’s president of creative affairs, at the Carlton Hotel (Photo: Courtesy of Lionel Urman/Fox)
Marion Edwards and Gail Berman, chairman and CEO of The Jackal Group, and executive producer of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals (Photo: Courtesy of Lionel Urman/Fox)
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