Off the Fence makes sales, media hires

L-R: Rebeca Fernández, Jia Zhao and Victor Eckard

Amsterdam- and London-based distributor Off the Fence (OTF) has expanded with three appointments in its sales and media teams.

Rebeca Fernández, Jia Zhao and Victor Eckard have all arrived at the company.

Fernández has joined as sales manager from Pilot Productions, where she was head of sales. Having also previously worked for Zodiak Rights (now Banijay) in London, El Mundo in Boston and Eurosport in Paris, Fernández will be responsible for sales to Latin America, Iberia and the UK and Ireland at OTF. She will report to MD of sales and coproductions, Ludo Dufour.

Zhao, founder and producer at both Muyi Film and Silk Road Film Salon, has been added to OTF’s international team as sales and production executive.

Her focus will be on selling content to China, Taiwan and Korea and on strengthening OTF’s relationships with local coproduction partners. She will report to sales manager Anouk van Dijk, working alongside senior sales executive Gem Lejarde.

Eckard has been named director of digital media and will be responsible for the company’s digital production and distribution strategy.

His previous roles include head of content for Naspers’ SVoD business, ShowMax, and channel director at South African broadcaster MNet’s premium flagship pay TV channels, including MNet 101 and MNet Series.