Fremantle has hired Katie O'Connell Marsh to lead a brand-new scripted division, filling the gap left by Christian Vesper's departure six months ago. She takes the title CEO, Fremantle Global Scripted Hub — a freshly created drama and film unit — and starts in August 2026, according to Deadline.

The role comes with serious scope. O'Connell Marsh will provide creative, commercial and strategic direction across Fremantle's scripted labels, oversee the company's annual scripted investment budget, and recommend spend on individual projects and selected third-party opportunities. She reports to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle's Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, with a dotted line to Jens Richter, CEO Commercial and International. She also joins Fremantle's Global Leadership Team.

O'Connell Marsh is currently based in the United States and will relocate to London for the job. Fremantle had been seeking a UK-based executive to replace Vesper, who exited in January 2026 after nearly a decade with the company.

Her CV reads like a map of the streaming era. She founded Gaumont International Television — the U.S. arm of the French studio Gaumont — in 2010, and from there produced Netflix's Hemlock Grove, NBC's Hannibal, and the animated comedy F is for Family. She served as an executive producer on Netflix's Narcos, the crime drama that helped prove non-English-language series could find large global audiences on streaming platforms. She later became Head of Global Live Action TV at DreamWorks Animation.

In 2017 she launched Platform One, which produced Apple TV+'s Invasion and Showtime's Rust. After Boat Rocker Media acquired the company in 2019, she became Vice Chair of Boat Rocker Studios. Most recently, she served as an executive producer for Apple, a board member at EuropaCorp, and an advisor to Bain & Company.

What makes this appointment stand out is the structure. Fremantle did not simply slot a replacement into Vesper's old role. It built a new division — the Global Scripted Hub — and gave one person authority over both creative direction and the scripted spend across the group's labels. That puts O'Connell Marsh at the centre of decisions about which dramas and films Fremantle backs, and where the money goes.

For viewers, the impact will take time to surface. Commissioning decisions made in the coming months will shape what appears on screens a year or two further out. O'Connell Marsh's track record across scripted, animated and non-English-language television gives her a footing in each of the areas Fremantle treats as one market.