Zodiak Media appoints Russia CEO

Zodiak Media has appointed Laurent Saillard as CEO of Zodiak Vostok, its Russian division.

Saillard joins the Russian arm of the production and distribution giant from free-to-air broadcaster Ren TV. He has also worked at TV firms including Endemol and Banijay.

The CEO position was made vacant last October following the departure of Gennadij Kaganovitj.

Zodiak’s Russian operation includes local production company TeleAlliance, which makes scripted reality series Understand and Forgive for Channel One, as well as the long-running drama series Traces and Detectives for Petersburg Channel 5 TV.

Dixi is also part of Zodiak Vostok and makes drama series include cop show Zimina 3 and Karpov2 for NTV, both spin-offs from Glughar, the prodco’s biggest show. Mastiff Russia is also part of the group and specialises in formats. It has made local versions of Zodiak’s Shipwrecked, Don’t Forget the Lyrics and Killer Karaoke for Russian broadcasters.

Saillard’s appointment comes in the same week that Zodiak hired a new boss of its French business. Speaking about the Russian news Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO Zodiak Media, said: “I am confident that Laurent has all the assets to successfully develop our business in this fast-growing and challenging market.”

Saillard added: “I am thrilled to join Zodiak and work closely with its talented Russian TV content producers. I look forward to assist them in taking their businesses to the next level in the region and further exploit the synergies within Zodiak.”