Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has promoted Sunita Uchil to executive vice president of its new international co-production and co-development division at ZEE.
ZEE is looking at doing more international co-productions, for instance Mehek that recently started on Zee World (DStv 166) in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, with Zee Africa that smartly utilised the back-end infrastructure of an existing Bollywood show before it shuttered to recreate and create a customised version for African audiences by inserting an African cast.
Sunita Uchil in her new role based in Mumbai, India, will work with production companies around the world to co-create and produce both scripted and non-scripted programming.
Sunita Uchil was previously Zee’s chief business officer for international ad sales and global syndication and led Zee's international syndication division since its inception in 2012.
Here she spearheaded several co-production series, including the company’s first global blue-chip documentary, The Life of Earth from Space, on which she served as an executive producer.
Sunita Uchil developing both scripted and factual co-productions including the recent African drama series Deceptive Measures, an adaptation of popular Indian drama series Pavitra Rishta and Oba Nisa, an adaptation of the popular Zee TV series Tujhse Hai Rabbta (Cosmic Connection) which launched in Sri Lanka.
Sunita Uchil says "Stories are my passion and I am grateful to our CEO and ZEE for giving me the space to bring new global stories to light".
"True to our motto - that together we are extraordinary - I aim to seek out and partner with the best producers in the world to create compelling content which will be enjoyed by audiences worldwide."
Amit Goenka, CEO of international broadcast business at ZEEL, says "Sunita is a special creative and business executive, with strong content and commercial visions, along with the fortitude and ability to implement them".
"She has not only built up our international ad sales and syndication businesses, she has been instrumental in finding the right projects for successful co-production projects. We are excited to see what she does in this new role and expect she will bring all her experience and creative acumen to the role."
