Fremantle announced a three-year deal with the newly established Eureka Studios, formed by former Eureka Productions’ co-CEOs Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin. With Culvenor and Franklin stepping up to lead Eureka Studios as co-CEOs of the new venture, Rikkie Proost will be CEO of Eureka Productions, a Fremantle company. Under the three-year deal, Eureka Studios, which focuses on new IP, will develop new content to be sold and produced by Fremantle and its companies, including Eureka Productions. Eureka Studios will focus on global unscripted formats, developing original ideas in gaming, sports-adjacent content, and scripted content to be produced by Fremantle production companies worldwide and distributed by Fremantle globally.
The new partnership focuses on a global approach to IP development, expanding our global strategy beyond the traditional approach of developing and selling content locally and optimizing the commercial value of developed IP worldwide. Eureka Productions will continue to focus on delivering unscripted entertainment series across all platforms in the United States and Australia. They will be led by Rikkie Proost, who has been promoted to CEO. With over two decades of leadership in content creation, Rikkie joined Eureka as Chief Content Officer in 2019 and has overseen many of the company’s most successful shows, including "Farmer Wants a Wife" (Seven Network), "Parental Guidance" (Nine Network), "The Amazing Race Australia" (Network Ten) "The Mole" (Netflix) and "Luxe Listings" (Amazon Prime).
Jennifer Mullin, CEO of Fremantle, stated: “I am thrilled to continue working with Chris and Paul at Eureka Studios. This three-year partnership will enable us to develop exciting content for our audiences worldwide. Chris and Paul are true visionaries, and since our collaboration began in 2016, they have brought some of the most creative productions to our pipeline. I am equally delighted that Rikkie has taken the role of CEO of Eureka Productions and look forward to working together more closely as he continues the success of the label with shows such as Farmer Wants a Wife, The Floor, and Australian Idol.”
In a joint statement, Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin, co-CEO Eureka Studios, said: "Founding and growing Eureka Productions has been an incredible journey. Together with Fremantle and our exceptionally talented teams and partners, we have built a leading force in unscripted entertainment. As we expand our focus to this exciting new initiative, we remain fully connected to our production business, which will thrive under Rikkie's brilliant leadership. The launch of Eureka Studios marks a major new creative venture at the heart of Fremantle’s global business, and we look forward to building a pipeline of bold, original formats for the international market.”
Rikkie Proost, CEO Eureka Productions, added: “It’s been an incredible ride working with Paul and Chris over the past six years and I’m thrilled we get to evolve together in this new dynamic era of entertainment. At Eureka Productions we will continue to do what we do best: deliver world-class content, created by world-class people, to our valued partners and global audiences.”
While leading the newly launched Eureka Studios, Culvenor and Franklin remain actively involved in current productions and closely associated with the Eureka Productions slate. Since being founded in 2016 by co-CEOs Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin, Eureka Productions has rapidly emerged as one of the TV industry’s most prolific and innovative producers of unscripted entertainment. With dual headquarters in Los Angeles and Sydney, the company has produced over 600 hours of content spanning more than 50 seasons.
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