Therese Hegarty departs as Seven Studios CEO due to ‘transformation’ and COVID-19
After a year in the role, Therese Hegarty is stepping down as CEO of Seven’s production house due to the “ongoing transformation of Seven West Media” and the “significant financial and operational impact of COVID-19”.
Hegarty will remain at Seven Studios – which, locally, is behind the likes of Home and Away, Plate of Origin, Back to the Rafters, and Better Homes and Gardens – for a transition period while leadership is handed to director of production Andrew Backwell.
Hegarty became CEO of Seven Studios a year ago
Seven CEO James Warburton said: “Therese has been a true asset to the business, delivering a wealth of knowledge and experience during her time at Seven.
“I’ve enjoyed working with her over the past eight months and wish her all the best for the future.”
Hegarty joined Seven in 2012, and was promoted to director of content rights and distribution in 2014. During her stint as CEO, Seven locked in commissions and co-productions with Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, and the BBC, which commissioned Pooch Perfect in March.
“I have been privileged to work with such an incredible team of talented, generous people, many of whom I am proud to call friends, across the eight years and various roles I have held at Seven,” Hegarty said of her departure.
“I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all of them. I’m very sad to be leaving Seven but look forward to new challenges in the future.”
Earlier this year, Warburton said Seven was considering selling its production arm – possibly to Britain’s ITV Studios– following a $67m half-year loss.
Since that announcement, the company has implemented 20% pay cuts in an attempt to weather the impacts of COVID-19 and foreshadowed redundancies (The Sunday Times’ editor role was made redundant a week later), despite successfully offloading Pacific Magazines to Bauer last week for $40m.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
Linkedin
Therese would have the be one of the smartest people I have ever come across. Congratulations on what you built, there is no doubt that wherever you land you will be a huge success.
User ID not verified.