Gurin will use his worldwide network of relationships, which span Europe, MENA and Asia, to create opportunities for third-party independent producers looking to find a global audience for their IP.
Los Angeles-based TGC Global Entertainment (TGC GE), the global distribution company launched in January by format veteran Phil Gurin to represent premium formatted content, factual entertainment and documentaries, has added a string of international sales agents to its growing team, including Jess Khanom (NENT Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Television), who oversees sales and acquisitions in Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and the MENA.
The new team members, who have been recruited for the depth and breadth of their international experience, as well as their in-depth knowledge of their local markets, consist of Cecilia Ingebrigtsen (formerly with Magnify Media, Strix Television), who is managing TGC GE’s sales into Europe and the Nordic territories; Malgorzata Gudel (Monolith Films, Lagadere Studios), whose territory focus is Central and Eastern Europe (CEE); Janel Downing (all3media International, BBC Studios), who is handling sales into Latin America and Hispanic North America; and format specialist Paulina Eklund (Dick Clark Productions, Nordic World), who assists TGC GE as global distribution consultant. In addition, London-based Jane Baker (DRG, Magnify Media), has joined TGC GE as its business affairs executive, and Los Angeles-based Philip D’Amour runs Post Production for finished programs.
Speaking about the recruitment, Phil Gurin, President and CEO of TGC GE, said: “Our expanding international team reflects our growing slate of new and soon-to-launch entertainment, factual and documentary shows. Paulina, Cecilia, Jess, Malgorzata and Janel have the vision, experience and contacts to help us realise our ambition — which is to ensure that great content from the world’s best creatives continue to be made, sold and enjoyed by audiences around the world. I launched TGC GE to offer content-makers and platforms real alternatives to what I call the GEGs — the global entertainment giants — who dominate the distribution market. At TGC CE, we put producers and creatives at the heart of the conversation. It’s all about them, not our corporate priorities.”
In addition to original content from The Gurin Company, TGC GE’s catalogue includes formats, documentaries, and non-scripted series from US and international producers. The catalogue includes new, current and soon-to-launch titles, as well as classic shows culled from domestic and international format libraries.
Current slate highlights include Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, a primetime reality competition event format, which rolled out on CBC Canada in February and was renewed for a second season earlier this month; entertainment format Fridge Wars, co-created with CBC, which is now in its second season on Sat.1 Germany and NTV Mongolia; sing-along game show The Singing Bee, which just concluded a new season on RCTI Indonesia and is set to be relaunched on the global market; and guerrilla super-fan game show Parking Lot Payday, now heading into its second US season on cable channel AXS TV.
