eOne TV promotes Lynas to COO

Transatlantic producer-distributor Entertainment One (eOne) Television has promoted its current senior VP of operations and business development to the role of chief operating officer.

Jeff Lynas

Jeff Lynas, who joined eOne in September 2008 after the company acquired Blueprint Entertainment, will now oversee day-to-day operations at the Hell on Wheels producer’s television arm.

Lynas will also continue to handle business development, establishing and structuring new business relationships for eOne Television across production, distribution and digital.

The exec reports to eOne Television CEO John Morayniss and will continue to be based in LA.

Prior to eOne’s acquisition of Blueprint, where Lynas was senior VP, he served as VP of US sales at Alliance Atlantis.

The appointment comes after eOne Television’s previous president and COO Margaret O’Brien was promoted to the role of executive VP corporate development in December last year.

On September 8, Corus Entertainment veteran Jocelyn Hamilton is set to take over the role of president from O’Brien, who now oversees the company’s burgeoning M&A activity.

Toronto-based eOne is attempting to double in size over the next five years and has expanded its operations recently.

The firm appointed former Fox Television Studios exec Pancho Mansfield as president of global scripted programming and also brought in veteran reality producer Mark Herwick as its head of current for US alternative programming.

It also extended Morayniss’s contract, bolstered its European sales team and launched a joint venture with Creative England.

The company’s TV portfolio contains more than 35 series, including Book of Negroes and Rookie Blue, while it also handles international distribution of series such as The Walking Dead and Peppa Pig.

C21 recently announced The Drama Series Script Competition, produced in association with eOne and Creative England through their recently launched venture, designed to find the next big thing in international drama.