Tandem, StudioCanal tap Stuart

Former Lionsgate and CBS Paramount exec Tim Stuart has taken up two newly created roles at Tandem Communications and its parent StudioCanal.

He has become Munich-based producer-distributor Tandem’s director of sales for Asia Pacific and director of TV/digital sales at StudioCanal Australia/New Zealand. StudioCanal bought a majority stake in Tandem last year.

Sydney-based Stuart told C21 that among his priorities is selling Crossing Lines, Tandem’s procedural crime series commissioned by NBC, to an Australian network and to broadcasters in Asia, where the show will air on Sony’s AXN networks.

He is also pushing other Tandem titles including World Without End, Pillars of the Earth and Titanic: Blood and Steel.

In Australia, he will focus on selling StudioCanal and Tandem product to free-to-air, pay, digital and OTT services. StudioCanal is in talks to set up an output deal for its films with dominant pay platform Foxtel’s Foxtel Movies.

As VP Asia Pacific at Lionsgate, Stuart sold films to Roberto Slaviero, now CEO of StudioCanal Australia/New Zealand, when the latter ran Hoyts Distribution. StudioCanal bought the firm in 2012 and renamed it earlier this year.

Slaviero said:”The digital entertainment world has opened a wide number of windows and platforms, and Tim has the right brand of experience to manage these challenges.”

Tandem president Rola Bauer said: “His vast experience in the region will ensure he’ll hit the ground running and be a valuable asset to Tandem’s global distribution and coproduction strategy.”

Stuart’s resume includes roles as director for Asia Pacific at CBS Paramount, head of television at Australia’s Becker/Dendy and, most recently, executive VP distribution at Oz radio and TV broadcaster Southern Cross Austereo.