Eureka Productions duo Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin launch studio with Fremantle backing

L-R: Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin and Rikkie Proost

Eureka Productions’ co-CEOs Chris Culvenor and Paul Franklin are launching a label called Eureka Studios and have signed a three-year deal with European production group Fremantle.

Culvenor and Franklin will lead the new venture as co-CEOs, while Rikkie Proost takes over as CEO at Fremantle-owned Australian outfit Eureka Productions.

The deal will see Eureka Studios, which focuses on new IP, devise and develop new content to be sold and produced by Fremantle and its companies, including Eureka Productions.

Eureka Studios will focus on unscripted formats in gaming, sports-adjacent content and scripted to be produced by Fremantle prodcos worldwide and distributed by the group globally.

Eureka Productions will continue to focus on delivering unscripted entertainment series across all platforms in the US and Australia under Proost.

Proost joined Eureka as chief content officer in 2019 and has overseen many of the company’s shows, including Farmer Wants a Wife (Seven Network), Parental Guidance (Nine Network), The Amazing Race Australia (Network Ten), The Mole (Netflix) and Luxe Listings (Amazon Prime Video).

While leading Eureka Studios, Culvenor and Franklin will remain involved in current productions and closely associated with the Eureka Productions slate. The pair founded the company, which has headquarters in LA and Sydney, in 2016.

In a joint statement, Culvenor and Franklin said: “Founding and growing Eureka Productions has been an incredible journey. Together with Fremantle and our exceptionally talented teams and partners, we have built a leading force in unscripted entertainment.

“As we expand our focus to this exciting new initiative, we remain fully connected to our production business, which will thrive under Rikkie’s brilliant leadership. The launch of Eureka Studios marks a major new creative venture at the heart of Fremantle’s global business, and we look forward to building a pipeline of bold original formats for the international market.”