Zodiak USA rebrands, appoints CEO

Zodiak Americas is rebranding Zodiak USA as Zodiak Los Angeles and has named a new CEO to lead the entity.

Tony Yates

Zodiak Los Angeles will now serve as the company’s west coast non-scripted production base and will be led by Tony Yates, who was most recently Zodiak Americas chief operating officer.

The appointment comes after Zodiak USA CEO Natalka Znak departed the company in April.

In his new role, Yates will manage a programming slate that includes Secret Millionaire (ABC), Celebrity Wife Swap(ABC) and Killer Karaoke (TruTV). He will report directly to Jonny Slow, CEO of Zodiak Americas.

As part of the restructuring, Yates has appointed David Wollock as senior VP of development. He was previously VP of development at Zodiak’s creativity and innovation unit in Los Angeles.

Since joining Zodiak in 2006, Yates has exec produced 160 episodes of the syndicated version of Don’t Forget the Lyrics for 20th Television, VH1 and My NetworkTV as well as served as point executive on shows such as Don’t Forget the Lyrics (FOX), Secret Millionaire (FOX) and How To Look Good Naked (Lifetime).

Zodiak Americas was formed last summer, bringing the company’s content creation businesses in North, Central and South America under one roof in Los Angeles.

Zodiak New York will remain as the division’s east coast production base, focusing on character-driven docuseries for east coast cable networks, and will continue to be led by chief creative officer Mike Gamson and chief operating officer Sheila Cabano. Both report to Slow.