LONDON — Philippe Maigret, the former chief of Endemol Studios in the U.S., has joined ITV Studios America as president of scripted programming.
Maigret launched Endemol Studios, the company’s U.S. scripted programming unit, in 2011. He left the newly merged Endemol Shine Group earlier this month.
Maigret’s appointment follows Orly Adelson’s resignation as president of ITV Studios America 10 days ago, and the exit last November of Paul Buccieri, who was head of the ITV Studios U.S. Group, for a senior post at A+E Networks.
“This is the next step in fulfilling our ambition to build a global scripted business,” said Kevin Lygo, managing director, ITV Studios.
“We have already made significant progress, and with Philippe at the helm in the U.S., we’ll accelerate that growth. His track record is very impressive, not least in launching a scripted business and quickly turning it into a leading independent producer.”
ITV Studios’ scripted shows include NBC’s “Aquarius,” produced by Tomorrow Studios and starring David Duchovny. It has been commissioned for a second season. Another of its shows is period epic “Texas Rising,” which is produced by Thinkfactory Media for A+E Studios and ITV Studios America. It launched on History in May, becoming the network’s highest-rated show in two years. Other series include “Good Witch,” which is a Whizzbang Films Production, based on Hallmark’s movie franchise.
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Maigret’s scripted portfolio at Endemol Studios included “Hell on Wheels” (AMC), now in its fifth season; “Kingdom” (DirecTV Audience Network), in its second season; and scripted formats adapted for U.S. networks, including “Red Widow” (ABC) and “Low Winter Sun” (AMC).
Maigret joined Endemol in 2010 as exec VP of acquisitions. Before then, he was senior VP of business strategy and development, international, at Disney-ABC. Earlier, he had held senior roles at Centropolis Entertainment, DreamWorks and Canal Plus.
