Endemol names Fotini Paraskakis as MD, Asia Operations

Endemol has announced that Fotini Paraskakis has been appointed as Managing Director of Asian Operations.

Fotini was formerly Director of Content for FremantleMedia Asia, managing creative, production and content for all the company’s formats in the region including Idols, Got Talent and X Factor and supervising over 1000 prime time hours since taking the role in 2005. She also created and supervised the first ever live Asia-wide event Asian Idol, bringing together six Asian winners for a successful Idol contest, targeting 250 million households.

Fotini began her career in television with BBC Drama in the UK and has been based in Asia since 1995. Prior to joining Fremantle she produced and managed major projects for leading networks across Asia and the UK, including Star TV, Disney, ESPN, Channel 4, BBC and MTV; holding numerous senior roles on multi-award winning shows.

As Managing Director of Asian Operations, Fotini will be responsible for Endemol’s creative, production and format sales activities across Asia on a day-to-day basis including the company’s joint venture with Astro in Malaysia. She will report to Arjen van Mierlo, CEO of Asian Operations who will increasingly focus on exploring new opportunities for Endemol to further expand in the region.

Arjen van Mierlo comments: “Having someone of Fotini’s calibre helping to lead our business in Asia places us in a strong position to pursue further growth here. She has an extraordinary wealth of experience and will be a valuable asset to our operations across the region.“

Fotini Paraskakis adds: “Endemol is a creative powerhouse with great prospects for further growth in Asia. The industry here is hungry for ideas and Endemol’s shows have already proven to be enormously popular with audiences throughout the region. I’m thrilled to be part of the team and I’m enormously looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Endemol’s recent projects in Asia include a first series of Fear Factor for Astro in Malaysia; shot in South Africa and co-produced by Endemol Malaysia and Endemol South Africa. Also in Malaysia, hit game show The Money Drop has returned for a second season on Astro whilst in China Endemol’s latest international hit Your Face Sounds Familiar continues to be the number one Thursday evening show across all channels for the third season in a row on Hunan Satellite TV. In the Philippines Deal or no Deal has successfully returned on ABS-CBN with a new host and The Money Drop was recently launched at ABC’s TV5. In Vietnam the first season of Your Face Sounds Familiar is outperforming the competition on VTV3 whilst Step Right Up is performing strongly on Channel 9 in Thailand.