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Rich Ross Named CEO Of Shine America

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 30, 2012 @ 10:00am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Elisabeth Murdoch, Rich Ross, Shine America
Nellie Andreeva

Rich Ross Shine America DisneyFormer Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross is returning to television, this time on the production side. Ross has been named CEO of Shine America, taking the reins of the U.S. outpost of Elisabeth Murdoch‘s Shine Group. He will start in January. Ross had a very successful run as President of Disney Channels Worldwide, overseeing global hits like Hannah Montana and High School Musical, before he moved to the feature side in 2009 for a rocky two-and-a-half-year term that ended in April.

At Shine America, Ross will replace current CEO Carl Fennessy. Fennessy, formerly co-CEO of Shine Australia, was brought to the U.S. in mid-2011 to succeed then-Shine Americas CEO Emiliano Calemzuk when he left in January 2012. After helping Ross with the transition, Fennessy will return to Australia where he will resume his duties as co-CEO of Shine Australia.

Ross and Shine Group chairman Murdoch have known each other for 20 years. “Rich is a world-class executive and the ideal leader to build on our extraordinary momentum at Shine America. We all welcome him warmly,” she said. “On behalf of everyone at Shine, I would like to thank Carl for his outstanding leadership over the last 18 months. He will be missed in America as much as he will be welcomed home in Australia.”

Shine America’s slate includes unscripted series MasterChef on Fox and The Biggest Loser on NBC, which will soon be joined by The Face on Oxygen. The company, whose scripted series originally consisted of Reveille’s The Office and The Tudors, has been ramping up scripted development and recently landed its first scripted pilot, The Bridge on FX, and first Spanish-language production, Minuto Para Ganar on MundoFOX. The company also recently launched New York-based format label Ardaban.

Related: WME Signs Liz Murdoch’s Shine America READ MORE »

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Shine International CEO Camilla Hammer Leaving Company After Less Than A Year

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday September 6, 2012 @ 5:10am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, MIPCOM, Shine International

With a month to go before the Mipcom TV market kicks off in Cannes, Shine International is undergoing a shift at the top of its ranks. Camilla Hammer, CEO of the sales and distribution arm of Elisabeth Murdoch’s … Read More »

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Elisabeth Murdoch Says She Harbors No Ambition For Top News Corp Job

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday August 24, 2012 @ 2:21am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch

UPDATED WITH VIDEO: In a Q&A session this morning, Elisabeth Murdoch told the Edinburgh TV Festival, “I really harbor no ambition for that top job.” She was referring to her family’s News Corp, where a succession plan … Read More »

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Elisabeth Murdoch Lecture: “A Welcome Distraction From Some Other Nightmares”

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday August 23, 2012 @ 12:07pm PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, News Corp, Shine Group

Three years after her brother James Murdoch delivered the keynote MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Elisabeth Murdoch put her own mark on the event Thursday evening. The first woman to deliver the address in 17 years, she said in her opening remarks that being asked to give the speech was an honor and “a massive pain in the ass.” However, she allowed, “Writing a MacTaggart has been quite a welcome distraction from some of the other nightmares much closer to home. Yes, you have met some of my family before – the committee may be less than keen on women, but by god, you do love a Murdoch.” She spoke fondly of her background and her family – while taking a dig here and there – and also addressed some of the issues facing News Corp, which owns the Shine production group that she founded in 2001, as well as calling out her brother and urging her peers to connect with their audience.

RELATED: Top British Politician: The “Age Of Deference To The Murdochs” Is Over

Of her somewhat controversial decision to sell Shine to News Corp. last year, Murdoch said, “After various considerations it became clear to me that News Corp. was the best strategic home for us. Now, I can almost hear you thinking ‘No shit, Sherlock,’ but in many ways it was the very last place I wanted to go. I really hadn’t spent 12 years on my own just to do what was expected of me. But there was, and still is, irresistible logic to it.”

“Obviously News is also a company that is currently asking itself some very significant and difficult questions about how some behaviors fell so far short of its values,” she said. “Personally, I believe one of the biggest lessons of the past year has been the need for any organization to discuss, affirm and institutionalize a rigorous set of values based on an explicit statement of purpose.” Read More »

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Top British Politician: The “Age Of Deference To The Murdochs” Is Over

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday August 23, 2012 @ 1:44am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch

Harriet HarmanBritain’s Labour Party Deputy Leader Harriet Harman has made no secret of her distaste for Rupert Murdoch’s long reach in the UK media sector. On Wednesday – the eve of a highly-anticipated speech by … Read More »

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Shine Group U.K.’s Henrietta Conrad & Jane Featherstone Expand Duties

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday March 12, 2012 @ 4:48am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, Shine Group

LONDON, March 12 2012: Shine Group today announced a restructure of its UK senior management that sees Princess Productions and Kudos Chief Executive’s Henrietta Conrad and Jane Featherstone assuming joint responsibility for the UK as Joint Chairmen.

In addition to their current roles as Chief Executives of Kudos and Princess Productions, UK based company Dragonfly will report to Featherstone who will continue to oversee comedy and drama labels Brown Eyed Boy and Lovely Day. Shine TV will report to Conrad who also becomes its Chief Executive.

The restructure sees Joint Managing Directors of Shine TV, Jamie Munro and Karen Smith choosing to step down from their positions with neither being replaced.

Read More »

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Marina Brackenbury Named Head Of Development At Shine Pictures

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday February 6, 2012 @ 3:31am PSTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, Shine Pictures

London, February 6, 2012: Shine Pictures, the film division of Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group, has appointed Marina Brackenbury as Head of Development.

Brackenbury will jointly report to Shine Pictures’ Head of Film Ollie Madden and Executive Chairman Stephen Garrett, and is tasked with overseeing and expanding Shine’s development slate.

Shine Pictures has a joint venture with New Regency, for whom they are producing The Gray Man, the Brad Pitt starring thriller directed by James Gray, and the feature version of bestselling Scandinavian thriller Three Seconds. The company also has a sequel to Eastern Promises set up at Focus.

Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Hong Kong, Europe, UK, Australia

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday December 8, 2011 @ 11:16pm PSTTags: Berlin Film Festival, Blade Runner, Carey Mulligan, Elisabeth Murdoch, Josh Lucas, Juliette Lewis, Melanie Laurent, Shine Group, Sony Pictures TV, The Firm

Run Run Shaw To Retire – At 104
At 104-years-old, legendary producer and TV mogul Run Run Shaw is to retire as chairman of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Ltd. Shaw is lately known for co-founding TVB which is one … Read More »

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Vanity Fair: Murdoch Kids Were In Therapy To Discuss News Corp’s Future

By TIM ADLER in London | Wednesday November 2, 2011 @ 10:32am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, James Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, News of the World, News of the World Hacking, Phone-Hacking Scandal, Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch’s children saw a family counseling psychologist as recently as this past February to help them sort through their feelings about who should succeed their father as CEO of News Corp, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sarah Ellison reports … Read More »

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Shine Group Buys Into Social Games Biz

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday September 16, 2011 @ 12:40pm PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, Shine Group

Shine Group is looking to give its TV properties a new platform with the acquisition of Bossa Studios, a London-based social gaming company. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Bossa is a new player in the space and just launched … Read More »

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Elisabeth Murdoch Out Of Edinburgh Fest; Google’s Schmidt To Give Keynote Speech

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday August 23, 2011 @ 6:51am PDTTags: Edinburgh TV Festival, Elisabeth Murdoch, Eric Schmidt, Google, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, Shine Group

Elisabeth Murdoch has backed out on a planned talk at this weekend’s Edinburgh International TV Festival. The Shine Group founder became convinced questions about phone hacking at Shine parent News Corp would dominate any appearance, a spokesman said Monday. Shine … Read More »

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Shine Sale Nets Elisabeth Murdoch $214M

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday August 17, 2011 @ 8:21am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, Shine Group

News Corp shareholders thought Rupert Murdoch’s $675 million acquisition of daughter Elisabeth’s indie production company Shine Group back in April was enough of a sweetheart deal that they have filed lawsuits to challenge it. But it wasn’t revealed … Read More »

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Scandal Ruins Plan For Elisabeth Murdoch To Join News Corp Board For Now

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday August 5, 2011 @ 7:43pm PDTTags: BSkyB, Elisabeth Murdoch, James Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, News Corp, News Corp Board Of Directors, Rupert Murdoch, Shine Group, Viet Dinh

With independent board members privately rebelling and institutional investors publicly complaining about inadequate corporate governance in the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal, News Corp’s board of directors is scheduled to meet Tuesday in Los Angeles ahead of the company’s fiscal year-end earnings release the next day. Now the media giant’s Wall Street Journal is reporting that Elisabeth Murdoch and the media giant have shelved plans for her to join the board for now. The 42-year-old daughter of News Corp Chairman/CEO Rupert Murdoch was expected to join the board as part of her return to the company through News Corp’s acquisition of the Shine Group, the television-production company she runs. Rupert had even said in a news release in February that he expected her to join the board when the £415 million ($680 million) Shine acquisition was completed in April. News Corp independent director Viet Dinh said in a statement Friday that Elisabeth ”felt it would be inappropriate” to join the company board at its annual meeting later this year and the company’s independent directors agreed. Read More »

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Shareholders Sue News Corp Over Scandal: Corporate Governance “Culture Run Amok”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday July 11, 2011 @ 8:14am PDTTags: Elisabeth Murdoch, James Murdoch, News Corp, News Corp Board Of Directors, News of the World, Rupert Murdoch

No doubt this will be the first of many News Corp shareholders filing claims in Delaware Chancery Court because the Big Media giant is incorporated in that state. The accusations focus on colossal corporate governance failures surrounding the ongoing British phone-hacking scandal that led to the closing this past week of the company’s … Read More »

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