A role he resumed in July 2013 after his two year tenure as CEO of Shine America. At Shine America, Carl was responsible for driving the ongoing commercial strategy and restructuring the American businesses of the Shine Group.
Prior to this, Carl oversaw the launch of Shine Australia in 2010 as its Co-CEO and was a driving force in the company’s aggressive growth. Shine Australia quickly became one of the leading content producers in Australia and New Zealand, launching local hit versions of The Voice, MasterChef, The Biggest Loser, Australia’s Next Top Model, Beauty And The Geek, SlideShow, Aussie Pickers and Location, Location, Location.
Carl joined Shine Australia after successfully launching FremantleMedia Australia with his brother Mark Fennessy. At FremantleMedia Australia, Carl served as Chief Operating Officer, while his brother Mark was the company’s CEO.
Together they oversaw the development of such hits as MasterChef Australia, Neighbours, Australian Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, The Biggest Loser, Project Runway, The Farmer Wants A Wife and Australia’s Got Talent. Under the Fennessy brothers’ leadership, FremantleMedia Australia became the largest independent production company in the southern hemisphere.
Before planting FremantleMedia’s flag in Australia, Carl and Mark Fennessy had previously launched and managed their own independent Australian production company, Crackerjack.
While at Crackerjack, they successfully created and launched such series as Comedy Inc., CNNNN: Chaser Non Stop News Network, The Chaser Decides and Newstopia. Crackerjack also created factual TV projects such as The Choir Of Hard Knocks and Jamie’s Kitchen Australia. In 2006, Crackerjack merged with Grundy Television to form FremantleMedia Australia.
Carl began his career in Australia at the Seven and Nine networks, working in both news and sports programming. He resides in Sydney with his wife and three children.
