‘Top Chef’ Spin-Off To Thailand; eOne Hires Oz Sales Exec; Netflix Co-Founder Pens Book – Global Briefs

Top Chef spin-off Just Desserts is heading to Thailand alongside a second season of World of Dance after NBCUniversal closed a pair of deals. The Hollywood studio’s international formats division has signed a deal for the shows with The One Enterprise. It will produce an 11-part series of Just Desserts for its One31 channel that will see pastry chefs flex their professional skills and go head to head in a series of challenges. Top Chef also airs on One31 and was recently renewed for a third season. Meanwhile, World of Dance, which was originally produced by Universal Television Alternative Studios in association with Jennifer Lopez’ Nuyorican Productions, will run for a second season on One31. Ana Langenberg, SVP, Format Sales & Production, NBCUniversal International Formats said, “Top Chef remains as one of our most successful franchises to date, so to bring a third season and a Just Desserts spin off to local audiences is truly exciting. To add to that, we are also excited for another season of World of Dance within the territory. The One Enterprise and One31 generated a local version that boasts high quality production standards and excellent on-screen talent, so we are proud to see the remake prove so popular and successful.”

Entertainment One (eOne) has hired former NBCUniversal exec Martine Druelle-Ireland to cover Australasia and India. The Designated Survivor studio has appointed Druelle-Ireland as VP, Sales, Australia, New Zealand and India, International Distribution. Based in Sydney and reporting to Joyce Yeung, eOne’s EVP, Sales – APAC, International Distribution, se will sell eOne’s film and TV slate to pay-TV, free-TV and SVOD platforms in the region. She previously worked at NBCUniversal Television Distribution for 16 years in various roles overseeing multiple territories. Since 2009, she held the position of Vice President, Australia & New Zealand. “We’re very excited to have Martine join the team,” said Yeung. “Her record-breaking revenue performances and extensive global experience in content distribution across different regions along with great relationships in the industry will no doubt drive further growth to our business in Australia, New Zealand and India.”

Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph is to tell the inside origin story of the digital giant in a new book. Randolph, who was the company’s first CEO, is to pen That Will Never Work: How We Took a Crazy Idea, Built Netflix and Disrupted an Industry after striking a deal with publisher Octopus. The book, which will be published in November, will tell the story from its early days competing with Blockbuster, through to going public and beyond. Randolph ceded the CEO position to Reed Hastings in 1999 before moving into product development and left the company in 2002. He said, “I’ll give you an insider’s view of how we took a crazy idea and built it into one of the most disruptive forces in entertainment. This won’t be a book that feeds you a bunch of feel-good, inspirational-speech nonsense. I’m going to show you that what we did, anyone can do. It’s real, concrete and achievable.”