Fox Alternative Entertainment lands new head in Maverick TV USA alum John Hesling

The Masked Singer

John Hesling, former president of Maverick TV USA, has been appointed as EVP and head of Fox Alternative Entertainment.

Based in Los Angeles and reporting to Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming, for Fox Entertainment, the veteran exec and producer will oversee the in-house unscripted studio.

He will take charge of development and production of all unscripted series owned by Fox Entertainment, as well as programs that it produces for third-party buyers.

Fox Alternative Entertainment is behind Fox formats such as The Masked Singer, I Can See Your Voice and Domino Masters, as well as shows for third-party platforms including Love Trip: Paris for Freeform and variety series The Big Deal for Ireland’s Virgin Media Television.

John Hesling

Reporting to Hesling will be SVP of current, Spike Van Briesen, who is moving over to the studio from Fox Entertainment; Leela Pon, SVP of content; and Staci Sarkin, SVP of production, all based in Los Angeles.

Hesling served as president of Maverick TV USA from 2018 to 2022, where he oversaw production of series such as Chrisley Knows Best and Growing Up Chrisley. Prior to that, he was SVP of programming at Warner Bros.’ Shed Media in Los Angeles, where he oversaw unscripted output on titles including The Real Housewives of New York City for Bravo, NBC’s First Dates and Genius Junior, Long Lost Family and Who Do You Think You Are? for TLC and Oxygen’s Criminal Confessions.

Wallach said that Hesling’s “creative vision and vast experience as both a producer and an executive working on a global scale will be key to our strategy of building Fox Alternative Entertainment as a leading provider of innovative series and formats for Fox and third-party platforms throughout the world.”

In related news on the scripted side, Fox Entertainment has handed a third season renewal to Dan Harmon’s animated comedy Krapopolis, before the first seasons has even debuted.

The animated sitcom, which is due to premiere later this year, is produced by Fox’s animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, and is the network’s first wholly-owned animated series. Set in mythical ancient Greece, it tells the story of a dysfunctional family of humans, gods and monsters that try their hand at running the world’s first cities – without trying to kill each other.

“The more we see from production, the more excited we are about their creativity, story arcs, flawless execution, brilliant voice cast, and ability to pump out episode after episode of astonishing events and outrageous, unexpected hilarity,” said Michael Thorn, president of scripted programming at Fox Entertainment, announcing the renewal at London Screenings this week.