Logo

12 to Watch: Chris Coelen

Feb 1, 2009  •  Post A Comment

The Fox reality series “Secret Millionaire” premiered in December with little fanfare and low expectations—and turned out to be a surprise success. The same could be said for its producer, RDF USA.

12 to Watch

Three years ago this month, Chris Coelen left a comfortable gig running United Talent Agency’s alternative division to launch the U.S. offshoot of London-based RDF. He began with just one full-time staffer—himself—in a marketplace already crowded with Stateside subsidiaries of much bigger international players, including Endemol and FremantleMedia.

Now Mr. Coelen oversees more than two dozen executives and a programming slate featuring close to 30 series greenlights, from “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” (Fox) and “How to Look Good Naked” (Lifetime) to a Mike Fleiss-produced series premiering this spring on The CW. Fox Alternative President Mike Darnell told TelevisionWeek that he hopes to order a second season of “Secret Millionaire” soon.

While nonfiction programming will always be one of RDF USA’s core businesses, Mr. Coelen is planning a major push into scripted production for 2009.

“In the next year, we’re going to hire someone to come in and run our scripted business for us,” he said, adding that the fiscal prudence reality producers bring to projects is in high demand at the broadcast networks these days.

Mr. Coelen also is beefing up the role of RDF sibling Pangea Management Group, which represents clients in both scripted and unscripted programming. In a groundbreaking deal launched last year, Pangea partnered with Bravo to represent the careers of media personalities born from Bravo series. Pangea is close to announcing a similar deal with another network.

There’s also a good chance RDF will acquire outside companies as part of its expansion plans. “I think you’ll see a couple of interesting alliances,” Mr. Coelen said.

AT A GLANCE

Name: Chris Coelen

Title: CEO, RDF USA

How long in current position: Three years

Year of birth: 1968

Place of birth: New Brunswick, N.J.

What to watch for: RDF USA will try to duplicate its reality sucess in the world of scripted TV this year.

Who knew? Mr. Coelen’s mom first pierced his ears when he was in ninth grade. “It’s in honor of my Native American heritage,” he said.


ChrisCoelen.jpg

22 Comments

  1. I agree with your thoughts here and I really love your blog! I’ve bookmarked it so that I can come back & read more in the future.

  2. Interesting layout on your blog. I really enjoyed reading it and also I will be back to read more in the future.

  3. Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast! What host are you using? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  4. I would like to start my own blog one day. This was a really nice blog that you made here. Keep up the success 😛

  5. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks

  6. Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

  7. Interesting layout on your blog. I really enjoyed reading it and also I will be back to read more in the future.

  8. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks

  9. You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I’ve been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you’re an inspiration to me and i’m sure many others!

  10. You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I’ve been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you’re an inspiration to me and i’m sure many others!

  11. I really like the colors here on your blog. did you design this yourself or did you outsource it to a professional?

  12. Interesting thoughts here. I appreciate you taking the time to share them with us all. It’s people like you that make my day 🙂

  13. I love the way you write and also the theme on your blog. Did you code this yourself or was it done by a professional? I’m very very impressed.

  14. The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.

  15. Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

  16. Hey how are you doing? I just wanted to stop by and say that it’s been a pleasure reading your blog. I have bookmarked your website so that I can come back & read more in the future as well. plz do keep up the quality writing

  17. Neat blog layout! Very easy on the eyes.. i like the colors you picked out

  18. Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.

  19. High quality info here! Keep up the great work. I love the feelings being expressed.

  20. I love the expression. Everyone needs to express there own opinion and feel free to hear others. Keep it up 🙂

  21. Th is information really helped me, I’m sharing having a very few friends.

  22. Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.

Leave a Reply to Link Building Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)