Ian Hogg.
Ian Hogg is stepping down as CEO of FremantleMedia Australia (FMA) and Asia Pacific after nine years with the company.
The highly respected and admired executive will depart at the end of this month after what colleagues are describing as an amicable and mutually agreed decision.
A successor is in the wings but is yet to be named; FMA stated there will be an announcement “in due course.”
Hogg has not indicated his career plans but is widely expected to continue as a key player in the screen industry after more than 25 years at TV networks and independent production companies.
He began his career in production and programming at Channel Ten and later held senior positions at TV3 New Zealand, Becker Group and MGM Worldwide.
He leaves after FMA’s Foxtel-commissioned Picnic at Hanging Rock was sold to the BBC, Amazon Prime Video in the US and France’s Canal+.
It’s just been announced that the drama – executive produced by FMA’s director of drama Jo Porter and starring Natalie Dormer, Lola Bessis, Yael Stone, Anna McGahan, Lily Sullivan and Madeleine Madden – will open the Berlinale Series, part of the Berlinale Special section of the Berlin International Film Festival next month.
The Berlinale Series line-up also includes AMC’s s The Terror, Hulu and Amazon’s TV adaptation of the nonfiction bestseller The Looming Tower, Denmark’s Liberty, Israel’s Sleeping Bears, German-originated drama Bad Banks and Norway’s Heimebane (Home Ground).
“The series will look into the depths of the human soul, and portray the insatiable hunger for wealth, power, and acknowledgment,” organisers said. “They depict reactionary political systems, but also turmoil and breakup in society, as well as protagonists who couldn’t be more different as they self-confidently follow their own paths.”
Hogg has been responsible for the overall management and business performance of FMA since 2009. He took on the wider role as CEO, Asia Pacific in 2011.
FMA’s slate includes Family Feud, Great Australian Bake Off, Grand Designs Australia, Wentworth and Neighbours.
Cécile Frot-Coutaz, FremantleMedia’s Group CEO, said: “On behalf of his many colleagues and friends across FremantleMedia, I would like to thank Ian for the significant contribution he has made to our business and to wish him well for the future.”
Hogg said: “The opportunity to lead the exceptional team at FMA is a career highlight. It is a business steeped in history that continues to write new chapters. I am particularly proud of the diversity of content we have produced whilst at the helm.
“I thank all those who’ve shared in this experience with me and genuinely wish the group’s fantastic leadership and staff the very, very best moving forward.”