Fremantle veteran Vasha Wallace exiting after 20-plus years

Vasha Wallace, executive VP of global acquisitions and development at Fremantle, is leaving the RTL Group-owned production and distribution giant after more than 20 years.

Vasha Wallace

Wallace informed external colleagues in the TV industry today she would be moving on from Fremantle, which she joined in 2004 as acquisitions manager when the company was known as FremantleMedia.

A handover process will see Wallace remain until September, after which she said she will be doing various activities, including consulting in international television.

In a note seen by C21, Wallace said: “I’m building myself a portfolio career, which is a fancy way of saying ‘doing several interesting things at once and hoping it all comes together.’ Part of that will be consulting in international television, so our paths will continue to cross. I’m rather excited about it.”

Wallace leaves Fremantle having worked on some of the biggest unscripted shows on TV during her tenure. These include Hole in the Wall, Project Runway, Farmer Wants a Wife, Thank God You’re Here, The Apprentice, My Mom Cooks Better than Yours and The Piano.

In 2012, Wallace’s remit was expanded and she joined Fremantle’s then fledgling global entertainment development division, working across the format programming pipeline. In 2015 she was promoted to the role of executive VP.

Wallace worked with Fremantle’s network of international production companies, identifying opportunities and undertaking analysis in the latest market trends, presenting her findings inside and outside the organisation.

In addition to working with Fremantle’s production companies, Wallace cultivated and managed relationships with content creators, distributors and the independent production community.

Wallace began her television career at Sky TV in New Zealand, before moving to London. She joined London Weekend Television, where she worked across a variety of productions, before moving to Granada International Production, now ITV Studios.

Wallace said: “I have been enormously lucky and grateful to work with a brilliant, ridiculously talented bunch of people over the last two decades. These creative collaborations are exactly why we’ve managed to make such a success of what we do, across a constantly challenging and changing landscape.

“I am proud of what we have all built together and of being part of a world-class global formats team rolling out thousands of shows around the world”