Banijay UK has acquired Hells Kitchen and Love Island creator Natalka Znak’s indie Znak TV, as she takes the reins of Banijay stablemates Entertainment and Initial.
Znak will continue running US producer Znak TV, which she set up earlier this year after leaving Sky-backed Znak & Co, while leading an “entertainment powerhouse” at Banijay, according to the global super-indie.
Her role at Remarkable Entertainment and Initial, which she starts at the end of the year reporting to Banijay UK CEO Lucinda Hicks, will see her oversee both slates, looking after the likes of Pointless, The Wall and Soccer Aid, setting the labels’ strategic direction and pitching to buyers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Hicks describe Znak as “utterly unique,” adding: “No one has a track record for entertainment hits like her and combined with her razor-sharp commercial acumen and fantastic relationships in both the UK and US, she is an incredibly exciting appointment for Remarkable and Banijay UK.”
Znak is a former CEO of Zodiak USA, where she produced the likes of Secret Millionaire (ABC) and Celebrity Wife Swap (ABC). As ITV Studios Controller of Factual Entertainment, she was responsible for creating Hell’s Kitchen, Love Island and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.
Remarkable Entertainment’s senior team of Cat Lawson, Tamara Gilder and Richard Hague will report into Znak, along with Initial Co-MDs Cat Lynch and Katy Manley.
The move represents a huge powerplay in the entertainment world for an emboldened Banijay, which completed the purchase of Endemol Shine last year. It has recently reshuffled factual label RDF’s senior team and signed an exclusive deal with Travels With My Father star Jack Whitehall.