Raydar detects von Ahlefeldt

London-based distribution and coproduction outfit Raydar Media has brought in a former exec from Australian pubcaster SBS’s distribution arm as an executive consultant.

Lara von Ahlefeldt

Lara von Ahlefeldt and her independent consultancy Sauce Group are joining forces with Raydar to bolster its factual acquisitions and coproductions, with specific focus on Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific.

Von Ahlefeldt, co-founder and director of programmes and acquisitions at the 3DD Group, founded the Sauce Group when she migrated to Australia in 2009 from the UK.

She later headed up the distribution arm at SBS but decided to restart Sauce last year following the closure of SBS International.

In her consultancy role with Raydar, von Ahlefeldt will remain based in Australia and will work with the company’s UK team of Alison Rayson, Chris Rayson, Shane Lowe and Pindy O’Brien.

The move sees a raft of SBS food titles come into the Raydar catalogue, including series fronted by Luke Nguyen and Peter Kuruvita that will launch at MipTV in Cannes next month.

New travel, food and arts series will also launch as part of the Raydar slate, including Network Ten’s A Taste of Travel (13×30’) and NITV’s Colour Theory (4×30’).

Finance is also being sought for new original projects including The Irwin Effect, produced by Flickchicks, the Brisbane-based prodco behind Animal Planet series Snake Sheila. The series focuses on Bob Irwin, grandfather of the late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin.

Raydar MD Alison Rayson said: “Having Lara on the ground in Australia will enable us to seek out coproduction and acquisition opportunities more readily and will also provide Lara’s impressive portfolio of producer clients with access to Raydar’s global funding and distribution client base.”