Production company announces other new hires, promotions under new unscripted president Sharon Levy

Michael Weinberg will lead a new syndication unit at Endemol Shine North America (ESNA) as executive VP of syndication, the company said Tuesday.

He was formerly senior vice president, development, at the company. While in that role, he helped develop both ESNA’s daytime syndicated talker, The Steve Harvey Show, which has since moved over to be produced by Endeavor as Steve, and Twentieth’s Page Six TV, which launched last fall.

He originally joined Endemol USA in 2009 as vice president, unscripted development. Prior to that, he was a co-executive producer on such shows as NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Fox’s Don’t Forget the Lyrics, NBC’s 1 vs. 100 and ABC’s Just for Laughs.

In his new role, Weinberg will report to Sharon Levy, who was named president, unscripted and scripted television, ESNA, last August.

Also joining ESNA is Christmas Rini, who has been named executive vice president, development, unscripted original series. Rini joins ESNA from A. Smith & Company, where she was executive vice president of development. While at A. Smith, Rini was responsible for the creation of many original series including Spike’s That Awkward Game Show, TV One’s The Game of Dating, FYI’s Teenage Newlyweds and HGTV’s Container Homes. She also oversaw that creation and development of ABC’s I Survived a Japanese Game Show and Crash Course as well as HGTV’s Ellen’s Design Challenge.

She joined A. Smith in 2006 after working at Endemol from 2003-2006 working on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Sean Loughlin, who has been with the company since 2005, also has been promoted to senior vice president, unscripted development, reporting to Rini.

Earlier this month, Levy announced her first appointments since arriving at Endemol Shine North America last year, naming DJ Nurre, executive vice president, unscripted original series; Dan Cazzola, vice president, international development, unscripted; and Lisa Fahrenholt, vice president, international development, scripted.

“The first six months of my tenure with Endemol Shine have been busy putting together a killer team, ready to create, execute and share amazing content with audiences across all platforms,” said Levy in a statement. “With the addition of Christmas, Michael leading our syndication initiatives and Sean’s promotion, I believe we are now poised to smash it.”