After almost 10 years at the helm of Original Productions at M-Net, Carl Fischer has decided to step down on 31 March 2009. He told Screen Africa he had decided it was time to take time off for a sabbatical, “recharge’ and look at some new opportunities. He also wants to dedicate more attention to his family and personal matters.
“The past ten years at M-Net have been among the most exciting of my 33-year career in television productions. But I’m really looking forward to slowing down a bit, and to get around to things I’ve put on hold for a long, long time.’
Fischer who for many years headed his own production company, was bought out by the international television conglomerate Endemol, where he worked as a producer before joining M-Net. Always a strong supporter of the independent production section, he succeeded in increasing M-Net’s investment in local programming. When he took charge, there were six locally produced shows on the M-Net schedule. The brand has added more than 100 programmes for a variety of M-Net channels across the African continent.
In 2000, Carl Fischer and his colleagues changed the face of South African television by introducing Endemol’s reality format Big Brother to the Continent. The press called him “Mr. Big Brother’ and the show was SA Newsmaker of the Year. This was followed by groundbreaking television programmes across different genres, including Idols (SA, West Africa and East Africa), Binnelanders and Survivor, as well as a variety of popular Afrikaans language programmes.
“I have been privileged to be near the centre of M-Net’s endeavour to keep growing and improving during testing times in the broadcast industry. The next 10 years will provide even bigger challenges for the entire content production sector.’
