Eccho Rights’ co-founder Fredrik af Malmborg has stepped down from his CEO role.
Herbert L. Kloiber, Chairman of the Eccho Rights Board and CEO of Eccho’s mother company Night Train Media, will assume the role on an interim basis as Eccho integrates into the wider group. Night Train acquired Eccho in July last year, in a major move for a relatively quiet international distribution M&A market.
Kloiber said: “I would like to express our profound gratitude to Fredrik. His vision and determination have been the driving force behind Eccho Rights’ reputation and success, particularly in building a vast content catalogue and a trusted brand for Turkish drama series around the world.”
The news comes ahead of Mipcom Cannes next month, and a day after we revealed another long-serving European sales chief, Stuart Baxter, was leaving his post at eOne.
As part of the changes, Oskar Malmquist, Eccho’s Head of Business Affairs, has been promoted to the role of COO.
Furthermore, Eccho’s co-productions and acquisitions chief Adam Barth will join Night Train’s content team. He will now also lead the sales team for English-language content under a new title, Director of Co-productions and Distribution.
Eccho’s distribution will continue under the Eccho Rights banner, with all Eccho sales executives in unchanged roles. We recently revealed Tess Charman had joined the company as Director of Sales for Continental Europe.
Af Malmborg’s business partner Nicola Söderlund stepped down last year after the Night Train deal.
In 2004, the pair founded Sparks Network, which would become Eccho Rights in 2012. The distributor has a catalog of more than 7,000 hours of international television drama, and licenses more than 17,000 hours annually from its offices in Stockholm, London, Istanbul and Madrid.
Night Train said Eccho Rights will be “doubling down” on Turkish drama, which has become a big money spinner for the company. Handan Özkubat will continue to lead as Director of Turkish Drama.
