Nellie Andreeva

In light of the pending exit of Reveille managing director Howard T. Owens, Eden Gaha, a longtime Mark Burnett collaborator and showrunner of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, has been named Reveille president. Reveille’s parent company Shine Group had been looking to tap creative and producer types in the top management positions for the next phase of the company, and Gaha fits the bill. This has become an industry-wide trend over the past year, with several production companies appointing top producers for management posts, especially on the reality side, including  Zodiak USA. Gaha is not directly replacing Owens as Owens had been overseeing the entire Reveille slate: unscripted, scripted, digital and brand integration. Gaha will run the reality/digital/brand operations, while Shine Group Americas CEO Emiliano Calemzuk will oversee scripted development and production. Here is the release, which includes several other recent executive appointments at Reveille:

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 6, 2011) – It was announced today that Eden Gaha has been appointed to the position of President, Reveille, LLC. Show runner of the successful Celebrity Apprentice franchise since 2006, Gaha will head Reveille’s unscripted, creative, development, digital and brand integration departments. Starting in June, he joins a series of recent production hires at the Shine Group-owned company, and reports to Shine Group Americas CEO Emiliano Calemzuk, who will continue to oversee the company’s scripted output.

After forging a TV career in his native Australia for a decade, Gaha became a supervising producer on Survivor in 2003 in the US, enjoying two seasons on the show and two Emmy nominations. He was later co-executive producer on other Mark Burnett productions including The Contender, Pirate Master and Rock Star. He is currently completing his fifth season of the revitalized Celebrity Apprentice as executive producer.

Gaha’s appointment follows recent senior permanent production hires Heather Schuster (formerly executive producer, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover) as Senior Vice President Creative Affairs and Matt O’ Brien (51 Minds) as Vice President, Creative Affairs. Additionally David Anderson, formerly Vice President, Sales Strategy and Planning for FOX Audience Network, has joined as Head of Digital and David Benavente been promoted to Senior Vice President of Production Finance and Administration.

CEO Shine Group Americas Emiliano Calemzuk said, “Eden’s proven creative and show running expertise with major network unscripted productions makes him a perfect fit to lead Reveille at a time when the company internally produces not only two of television’s largest franchises in The Biggest Loser and MasterChef, but new brands such as One Born Every Minute and Live to Dance. His appointment, along with the recent additions to the team, will further develop Reveille’s reputation as the leading reality television producer.”

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.