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Grant quits in Shine sales shake-up

Shine International president Chris Grant is leaving in a restructure of the superindie’s global distribution arm that will see it relocating from LA to London.

The bulk of Shine International’s team is joining production division Shine Network, digital arm Shine Vu and Shine’s brand management teams at Shine Group’s London headquarters.

The LA office will remain open, albeit at a reduced level, with the team refocusing its efforts entirely on the Americas, a Shine spokesman told C21.

Shine International’s executive VP John Pollak is also leaving, though he will continue his role in LA as head of sales until the end of the year. Senior VP of business and operations Martin Rakusen is relocating to the UK.

But US-born Grant has decided not to move across the pond and will leave the company in six months after helping find a London-based successor. Shine Group president Alex Mahon assumes his responsibilities in the meantime.

C21 understands that the new-look Shine International will also assimilate programming from Fox Look, the US formats distributor that Shine’s sister News Corp company Fox Networks Group closed in March. The Shine spokesman declined to comment.

Grant’s departure follows that of Howard Owens, who was MD of Reveille , the US-based prodco Shine bought in 2008 and was replaced earlier this week by Eden Gaha. The Shine spokesman said the latest changes would cause no knock-on effects for Reveille or its other business there, Shine Group Americas.

Shine International’s bases in France, Germany, Australia and the Nordics are unaffected by the changes and will keep current staff levels.

“At this stage of the company’s growth, Shine International needs its headquarters alongside our teams that manage and exploit group formats, brands and digital rights, with local sales experts in our global production centres of excellence,” said Mahon.

Shine thanked Grant for his service and said it was respectful of his decision. “Chris Grant has been an exceptional leader, establishing Shine International as one of the most successful and respected distributors of content globally,” said Mahon.

“We are respectful of his decision to want to remain in Los Angeles and delighted he will be working with us to ensure a seamless transition, after which we wish him the very best in his future plans in which we hope there are opportunities to work together again.”

Grant said he was “incredibly proud of the substantial growth that Shine International has achieved,” adding: “These changes are absolutely right for the business at this point in its development, however LA is my home and, rather than relocate, it is also a good time for me to allow my colleagues to build on the success we have, together, created.”

The news comes in the wake of News Corp’s buy-out of Shine Group for £415m (US$681.5m) in February, which reunited Shine founder Liz Murdoch with her father Rupert and brother James at the media giant after a decade.

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