EXCLUSIVE: Australian producer WTFN has reshuffled its management pack.
Co-founder Daryl Talbot has moved out of the CEO seat at the 22-year-old company to become Executive Director, with COO Wes Crook rising to replace him. Steve Oemcke, the other co-founder, remains Chief Creative Officer and Derek Dyson is Chief Commercial Officer.
WTFN is best known for Australian unscripted shows such as Bondi Vet, Sydney Harbour Force, The Hunters, Emergency and Space Invaders, but also operates in international distribution through subsidiary Fred Media and digital vendor Radar. The two sales businesses merged in September last year.
Talbot, a former Nine Network producer and news reporter, launched WTFN with former gameshow host Oemcke in 2003, and they have gone on to build one of Australia‘s most prolific independent production and distribution operations. The Sydney-based company owns a library of more than 2,000 in-house hours, a sizeable number including numerous multi-season returners, and talent agency Empire Talent, and has offices in L.A. and London.
This shuffle is among the most significant management switches at the company to date. “We have been through some restructuring,” Talbot told Deadline. “The industry isn’t standing still and you can’t be left behind. The new structure gives me headspace to think about our strategy and our international focus.”
Talbot said that while there is “no denying from a macro-economic position that the last few years have been pretty tough for everyone,” WTFN starts 2025 in “probably the strongest position we’ve ever been in.” He predicted the company will experience double-digit digital growth this year, and added, “It has been a journey to get here and navigate the changes in the industry, along with Covid. To come out of all of that and be really well placed is great.”
Last year, we revealed WTFN had engaged a bank to explore a sale or new investment with distribution growth in mind, but nothing has materialized yet on that front and it remains privately owned.
Talbot declined to comment when asked about the process this, but was keen to talk up how the company had built up value through what WTFN calls a ‘total distribution’ strategy after realizing that production alone wouldn’t keep the business alive. This comprised identifying the need for an international sales business more than a decade ago, and launching a digital business that includes FAST channels and social media content.
“We went from building houses to building houses, owning them and renting them out,” said Talbot. “That has allowed us to build out own library and given us options going forward. We’ve got a strong recurring production business that consistently does a job for the networks, and we’re out there pitching new shows, but owning and controlling the content is critical to the future. You have to have the commercial model that allows you to think up those new shows.”
