Primitives promotes Simone de Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne to MD as Jan Huyse steps down

Belgian format distributor Primitives has promoted Simone de Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne to MD, replacing Jan Huyse who is stepping down.

Simone de Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne

Huyse, who co-founded Primitives, has acted as MD of the company since 2018 and will step down on January 1, 2026.

De Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne joined Primitives as director of sales and acquisitions in 2022 from Be-Entertainment. She also previously worked at Nordic World, Magnify Media and Absolutely Independent. For the past 10 years she has additionally run her own consultancy, Cliffhanger Media.

Primitives has had a strong year thanks to the success of original Belgian format 99 to Beat, which has been acquired by 12 broadcasters including Fox in the US and Atresmedia in Spain.

Huyse said: “Primitives started as a small vehicle to help three Belgian independent producers distribute their formats to the wider world. Seeing it develop into a solid player in the formats market is one of the great professional pleasures of my long career in the business.

“I want to thank our rightsholders and clients for their trust, our shareholders for giving us a free rein in terms of plans and ambitions, and, of course, the great staff that made it all happen. Special thanks go out to Siobhan Crawford for daring to be bold and opening up our limited Belgian point of view.

“Finally, I could not be happier that Simone is taking over the baton. Her excellent work as sales and acquisitions director has helped make this little Belgian company the number one independent distributor in the world. And I’m convinced there’s a lot more to come.”

De Pruyssenaere de la Woestyne added: “Primitives has achieved the rare feat of sustaining growth, revenue and relevance in a volatile global market. The past year has been one of our strongest yet, with formats including 99 To Beat, Zero Stars and The Ultimate Celebrity Car Park Showdown Squad picking up real momentum internationally.

“We seem to have hit a sweet spot between scale, quality and originality, plus we can draw on Belgium’s well-deserved reputation for creative risk-taking and quirky storytelling. I’m looking forward to continuing to build on this success with our brilliant team, strong creative partners and formats that deserve the spotlight.”