Christian Vesper has been promoted to president of global drama at Fremantle, the production and distribution powerhouse behind hit dramas such as Luca Guadagnino’s “We Are Who We Are,” “American Gods,” and the BBC’s “The Salisbury Poisonings.”
Vesper takes on this new role following the departure of Sarah Doole, the former London-based director of global drama, who now leads Studiocanal’s Red production company. Following Doole’s exit, Fremantle’s group chief operating officer Andrea Scrosati extended his role and took on full responsibility for global drama.
Based in London, Vesper will take on day-to-day management of the global drama team. He will report into Scrosati, who has oversight for all Fremantle’s scripted activities, both drama and film, and works in close contact with the company’s regional drama chiefs.
Vesper was previously executive vice president and creative director of global drama at Fremantle.
He joined the company, which is owned by German media giant RTL, in 2016 as part of Fremantle’s ongoing expansion plan to carry out the company’s ambitions in becoming a global leader in the scripted arena.
Vesper was previously drama chief at Sundance TV where he oversaw critically acclaimed international productions such as Jane Campion’s “Top Of The Lake” and Hugo Blick’s “The Honourable Woman,” starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, and U.S. series “Hap And Leonard,” created by novelist Joe R. Lansdale, as well as Ray MacKinnon’s hit show “Rectify.” Vesper previously held roles at HBO; entertainment industry start-up iFilm; October Films and USA Film.
With creative oversight across all 30 territories where Fremantle has production outposts, Vesper and his global drama team will lead and support Fremantle’s international network of scripted labels, which include Italy’s The Apartment and Wildside, Fremantle North America, and the U.K.’s Euston Films.
In this capacity, Vesper and his team will continue to support projects such as “Picnic At Hanging Rock,” which was produced by Fremantle Australia for Foxtel and Amazon; “Dublin Murders,” produced by Euston for BBC and Starz; “My Brilliant Friend,” with Wildside/The Apartment and HBO; and the recently announced “Mosquito Coast,” which Fremantle North America is currently producing with Apple.
In addition, Vesper and his team will continue to focus on establishing international co-productions, negotiating first look deals with third party producers such as Chile’s Fabula.
“Christian has helped Fremantle put together a collection of some of the best creatives and producers in the global high-end TV drama space,” Scrosati noted in the statement.
“I’m proud to have distinguished Fremantle amongst our competition, to help deliver truly global, critically acclaimed dramas, and for being the place that creatives and producers feel at home knowing they have full creative independence,” said Vesper.
“As our global teams move into greater alignment, it’s important for us to present a clear Fremantle drama vision to attract the best ideas and talent from around the world and stand-out in this dynamic market,” he added.