Endemol Shine Expands Roles Of 2 Execs

Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin have taken on wider roles within global content creator Endemol Shine Group as part of new overall deals with the company, adding oversight of Latin American operations to their current North American responsibilities.

Abrego and Corwin will now serve as co-chairmen, Endemol Shine Americas, while continuing in their roles as co-CEOs of Endemol Shine North America. The two executives, who are based in Los Angeles, report to Sophie Turner Laing, CEO of Endemol Shine Group.

Laing said: “Alongside strong ratings and new pickups in scripted, non-scripted and digital, Charlie and Cris’s first year leading Endemol Shine North America as a combined business has seen significant success in the U.S. Hispanic market and Mexico. This creates a solid foundation for greater collaboration throughout the Americas under their guidance and having them in these expanded roles will help further leverage our strengths across these key markets.”

“Charlie and I feel like we’re building something very special here in North America,” Abrego said. “The integration process is behind us, the team is in place and we have a lot of momentum across many of our divisions. And we’re now looking forward to working with our colleagues in Latin America to expand upon their successes in the region.”

Corwin added: “I’m thrilled to continue working with Cris and our extremely talented team. It’s clearly an exciting time in our industry and Endemol Shine is uniquely positioned to excel in this rapidly changing environment both locally and globally. We are focused on offering talent, brands and broadcasters a new studio model for a new paradigm.”

Abrego and Corwin were originally named co-chairmen and co-CEOs of Endemol Shine North America in October 2014, as part of the joint venture creating Endemol Shine Group.

Since then, the two executives have overseen the integration of the Endemol USA and Shine America teams, creating new scripted, unscripted and Latino divisions.

In the Hispanic market, Endemol Shine Latino just launched Gran Hermano on Telemundo, the first Spanish-language version of Big Brother to air in the U.S. and recently produced initial seasons of both Big Brother and MasterChef in Mexico. Later this year, Endemol Shine Latino will produce its first scripted series El Vato for NBCUniverso.

A new central hub is being established this year within Endemol Shine Latino, which will connect and oversee all of Endemol Shine Group’s businesses throughout Latin America. This will be in addition to its current footprint across Hispanic U.S. and Mexico and will be led by Laurens Drillich as president of Endemol Shine Latino. Drillich will be based in Miami and report to Abrego and Corwin.

Both Abrego and Corwin took leadership of Endemol’s North American business in October 2013, after selling their respective production companies to the group.