Shine America, the production company behind "The Biggest Loser," "The Office" and other shows, has beefed up its development team with two executives, adding Chris Culvenor as senior vice president, development and Christie McConnell as vice president, development, the company said Monday.
Culvenor (pictured) joins Shine America from Shine Australia, where he launched the Australian formats of "MasterChef," "The Biggest Loser," "The Voice," "Minute to Win It" and others. Culvenor, whose tenure at Shine Australia was preceded by a stint at FremantleMedia Australia, will oversee day-to-day unscripted development for Los Angeles-based Shine America. He will report to Shine America president Eden Gaha.
Shine America CEO Carl Fennessy called Culvenor "an outstanding creative executive with a track record for developing major un-scripted formats. His experience and expertise in un-scripted television make him the perfect person to lead Shine America’s development team."
McConnell comes to Shine America from Stephen David Entertainment, where she'd served as vice president, development since 2010. McConnell's recent development projects include History Channel's "The Men Who Built America," TLC's "Extreme Cheapskates" and "RedRum," for Investigation Discovery.
“Christie is a rising star in the unscripted development world and we are thrilled to have secured her talents as part of the Shine America team," Gaha said of McConnell.
