ITV

Tag: Chris O?Dell

  • FremantleMedia signs Europe deals for factual reality series ‘The Lie Detective’

    CANNES: FremantleMedia has secured five new commissions for the highly entertaining factual reality series The Lie Detective. Devised by True North, the format, which sees a human lie detector put couples in the hot seat to test their honesty, has been picked up by SBS (Belgium), Antenna (Greece), STV Pirma! (Latvia), RTL 5 (Netherlands) and TV2 (Norway). FremantleMedia holds the global rights (excluding the US) for the format.

    FremantleMedia Head of Global Entertainment Production Chris O’Dell said, “We are delighted at the fantastic reception The Lie Detective has received from the international broadcasters. We’re excited to work with them to deliver local versions of the entertainingly honest and distinctly frank format.”

    True North executive producer Fiona O’Sullivan said, “It’s great to see The Lie Detective take off in so many territories so quickly. It’s a completely captivating concept with so many universal themes, it will be amazing to see all the hard work everyone has put into its creation and production manifest in these international series.”

    The highly-charged series, which launched on Channel 4 (UK) in Autumn 2016, sees current couples, wannabe couples, and ex-couples engage in heart-to-heart and compellingly candid conversations with their loved ones to find out whether they’ve always told it like it is, or whether their relationship has been based on lies. Dan Ribacoff will return as the Lie Detective in the Netherlands version of the show where he will use his incredible ability to read body language with genuine polygraph tests to give the couples answers to their long running problems.

    Meanwhile, the local versions will be presented by new experts, who will lend their own unique and extensive knowledge to the format.

  • FremantleMedia promotes Chris O’Dell to head of global entertainment production

    FremantleMedia promotes Chris O’Dell to head of global entertainment production

    MUMBAI – FremantleMedia, one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world, today announced the promotion of Executive Producer Chris O’Dell to Head of Global  Entertainment Production.

     

    Reporting to the Director of Global Entertainment, Rob Clark, Chris will oversee and be the first point of contact for FremantleMedia’s international production teams as they roll out formats such as X Factor, Got Talent, Idols and Farmer Wants a Wife across the world.

     

    Chris O’Dell says: “FremantleMedia has some of the world’s best-known entertainment brands in its catalogue and a fantastic set of producers in the all the major markets who deliver these formidable shows time and again. I’m really excited to take on this new challenge, work with the team to continue to deliver our global hits and introduce international audiences to some of our exciting new formats.”

     

    Rob Clark added: “Chris is one of the most experienced producers I know. He has worked with some of the biggest companies and most well-loved names in the entertainment industry, and has a wealth of experience producing FremantleMedia’s hit shows all around the world. I think he’ll be a fantastic Head of Global Entertainment Production and look forward to work with him as we continue to roll out our shows in new markets.”

     

    Prior to his promotion, Chris was Executive Producer at FremantleMedia for the last seven years, working with executives, producers, territory heads and local broadcasters to produce, refresh and manage FremantleMedia’s key entertainment formats including X Factor, Got Talent, Take Me Out, Hole in the Wall and Idols. An experienced media executive, Chris has held a number of production roles such as Executive Producer, Series Producer and Head of Development with companies which include TWI Entertainment, part of IMG Media, Granada Entertainment and London Weekend Television (LWT) where he had various roles including Head of Entertainment Formats, Executive Producer, Series Producer & Creative Executive. His production credits include Blind Date, Surprise Surprise, An Audience with…, Saturday Night Takeaway and Ant & Dec’s All Star Cup. Chris also created two formats – Chef V and The Better Half – which sold internationally.

     

    Chris’ promotion follows the departure of Diana Buddingh, who left the business to return to Holland in May.