The group has hired Ingrid Akkerman as its Head of Creative Partnerships and Format Sales and Marina Chikalovets as Format Sales Manager for the Global team in the Netherlands.

Talpa has hired Ingrid Akkerman as its Head of Creative Partnerships and Format Sales and Marina Chikalovets as Format Sales Manager for the Global team in the Netherlands.

Ingrid Akkerman has an impressive background in international format sales. She’s worked at big format houses like Endemol Shine. Most recently, she was Head of Sales at ITV Global Entertainment.

At Talpa, Ingrid will further build the Talpa Creative Partnership proposition, which has led to hit formats like Million Dollar Island and Hunting Season. Talpa is an open creative network where today, over a third of the format portfolio consists of collaborations with premium players and creative talent in the industry. On top of that, she will also contribute to expanding Talpa’s international format sales.

Marina Chikalovets has an extensive background in format production and format acquisition for premium platforms. At Talpa, she will mainly focus on format sales.

Sebastian van Barneveld, Director of Talpa Global: “We’re thrilled to welcome both Ingrid and Marina to our team. Their complementary experience and knowledge will enhance the growth of our global format footprint in the coming years. The timing is essential given the tremendous momentum of our latest format, The Floor.”

Talpa has continued to build up an impressive format catalogue since the beginning of 2020 with hits like Marble Mania, Million Dollar Island and Hunting Season. The Floor was recently launched in the Netherlands on RTL4, and the highly anticipated start of Avastars will be released later this spring.

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