International format sales veteran Siobhan Crawford, who helped bring The Mole to Netflix, is launching a distribution business ahead of Mipcom.
She has teamed with Free Kings, the Belgian production house behind the local version of Bake Off, to create the UK-based Glow Media, which will debut at the Cannes confab next month.
Crawford left her post as Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Belgian distributor Primitives in April this year, as Deadline reported at the time, after brokering an agreement to bring back clandestine reality format The Mole on Netflix. The show launched on the streamer this month.
Glow will focus on unscripted distribution, with a focusing on “illuminating good original content, at any stage, and connect markets.” It plans to build a catalogue of original and third-party titles, and Crawford will be on the ground dealmaking in Cannes.
“No path to market looks the same for formats,” said Crawford, who has worked in distribution for 18 years at companies such as Banijay, Zodiak and DRG. “The strength of Glow is its ability to source content, redevelop/format a good idea and connect partners, bridging the gap between Europe and the rest of the world in a strategic way”.
Free Kings is owned by ex-Blazhoffski (Warner Bros Belgium) Managing Director Geert Willems and Muriël Maebe. They launched the company in 2018 and are currently producing Bake Off Belgium (Bake Off Vlaanderen) for Play4 (fka Vier) and new cooking format Celebrity Dinner Guest (Dat Eet Dan Gelukkig Zijn)
Willems and Maebe added in statement: “It’s very exciting times for creators of content and format owners. More than ever, a good home for your ideas is essential. We understand that a perfect locally adapted format is as valuable as a good creation. Being part of Glow Media with Siobhan is a great opportunity to help share the content of passionate TV creators with the rest of the world.”
