Thom Beers Named CEO of FreemantleMedia North America

FremantleMedia announces the appointment of Thom Beers as Chief Executive Officer, FremantleMedia North America (FMNA), effective 1 September 2012. Beers, currently CEO and Executive Producer at FremantleMedia-owned company Original Productions, will be based in Los Angeles and report directly to Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia.

As CEO of FMNA, Beers will be responsible for the company’s overall management and business performance and will oversee the development, production and business operations of over 600 hours of network, cable and syndicated programming. He will lead a talented and experienced executive team including Donna Redier Linsk, FMNA’s Chief Operating Officer, and Trish Kinane, President of Entertainment Programming – American Idol, The X Factor and America’s Got Talent.

Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia said: “Thom Beers has a creative vision that has placed Original Productions, the company he founded, at the forefront of the industry. Thom is the perfect choice to take the helm of FMNA as it continues to grow, and we are very pleased that he has agreed to build on his successful leadership of Original and take on responsibility for FMNA.”

Thom Beers, CEO, FMNA said: “FMNA has an unrivalled position in the largest television market in the world, creating some of the best loved, most successful television shows on the planet. Working closely in all areas with COO Donna Redier Linsk, we hope to strategically grow and expand our reach. I look forward to working closely with FremantleMedia’s partners and to building on the considerable successes of FMNA.”

Emmy award-winning Thom Beers has an extensive background as both a television executive and producer, most recently acting as CEO and Executive Producer at Original Productions, a company he founded in 1997. Since its inception, the company has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including six Prime time Emmy® Awards and 24 Emmy® nominations from the US Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In addition, Original Productions’ everyday hero programming has brought millions of new viewers to a range of US Networks including Discovery, History, The National Geographic Channel, A&E Network, Spike TV, truTV, and IFC.

Under Beers’ leadership Original Productions has created a string of run-away ratings hits including Deadliest Catch, Black Gold, Ax Men, Monster Garage,1,000 Ways to Die, Storage Wars, Ice Road Truckers, and Bering Sea Gold. In February 2009 FremantleMedia acquired a 75 percent stake in Original, cementing a successful long-term pre-existing partnership between the two companies.

Prior to founding Original Productions, Beers served as a Production Executive and Series & Specials Producer for 11 years at Turner Broadcasting, later holding a similar position at Paramount syndicated television in Los Angeles. As Vice President/Supervising Producer for Turner Original Productions, Beers’ responsibilities encompassed supervising original programming for TBS Superstation, including the award-winning series National Geographic Explorer, Network Earth and the Jacques Cousteau Specials. Beers was also one of the creators and supervising producer of the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers and prior to that served as Vice President of Development for TBS Productions. While at Paramount, he was the Series Producer for the hit syndicated wildlife series Wild Things for Paramount Television.