MGM HIRES ROLA BAUER AS PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TV PRODUCTIONS

Rola Bauer, the founder of Tandem Communications, is joining Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) Television Group as the studio’s President for International Television Productions. In her new role, she will oversee development, production and coproduction for MGM’s scripted TV content, covering all international markets. She will report to Mark Burnett, Chairman of MGM Television Group, and will be based in Munich, splitting her time between the firm’s European and American offices.

The news comes after French producer-distributor Studiocanal took full ownership of its German subsidiary Tandem Productions last month, buying out Bauer, Jonas Bauer and Tim Halkin. After selling her stake, Bauer – who was a founding partner of Tandem and MD of Studiocanal TV – signed a non-exclusive consulting deal with Studiocanal.

“Rola is an important member of the scripted creative community, with exceptional taste in material and deep long-term relationships with many talented creators, directors and actors across global television,”  Burnett said.

Meanwhile, Bauer added: “Mark Burnett has passionately created iconic productions and successfully built companies, which I have always admired. He, along with the leadership at the studio, share a vision to further strengthen the iconic MGM brand internationally, which was very inspiring for me to hear. As the world changes and our industry continues to evolve, MGM will build a bridge with coproduction partnerships to further expand on the studio’s ongoing successful global growth”.