“I do feel I’ve come full circle, I’m still very connected to my production roots, and now possibly my greatest satisfaction comes from seeing local content make it big,” says Rajaram, adding that much of his achievement stems from the empowerment ethos within FME. “Both David Ellender (FME CEO) and Paul Ridley (senior vice president Asia Pacific FME) have given me the power to work on things like creating the fund with MDA and our joint venture in China.” Indeed, Rajaram is working closely with producers, broadcasters and agencies in Asia, looking to acquire and co-operate on productions from the region. One such acquisition was Kylie Kwong: My China, a series that followed celebrity Australian chef Kylie Kwong as she traced her roots in China. Produced by Singaporean production house, Sitting in Pictures. The production has since been sold into over 40 markets, not just within Asia but around the world. Based on the success of Kylie Kwong: My China, a multi-year funding agreement was established between FME and the Media Development Authority in Singapore to help fund international co-productions. Rajaram is also actively involved in sourcing and setting up similar funding and co-production models in Asia, including talking to relevant authorities in Malaysia, as well as exploring joint venture opportunities. Asked about any new Asian-born projects on the horizon, Rajaram says he’s confident there will be more to share in time for MIPCOM 2009 in October. Meanwhile MIPTV 2009 saw the announcement of Vision Ventures Media Ltd. (VVM), FME’s joint venture with Asian Union for China which Rajaram was instrumental in establishing. Dedicated to increasing the trade of factual programmes to and from China, it’s billed as the first company of its kind. Asian Union’s Liu Xiao Lin is chairman of VVM; Rajaram is a board director and responsible for the programming relationship between FME and VVM. “It’s not easy setting up something like this,” Rajaram admits, “but Asian Union are very established with concerns like the Travel Channel in China, co-productions, advertising agencies etc. Once Mr Liu had shared his vision with us, it was a fairly easy decision to make from then on.” A new slot called Vision has been created, syndicated across China and consisting of factual programming supplied by FME. It is already airing in Beijing, Shanghai and Chong Qing, Jenzen and Fujian, with titles such as World at War, Hitler’s Bodyguard and Arctic Exposure with Nigel Marven. Targeted Chinese programmes will be selected for the international market, whereby AU will work with the Chinese producers to re-version the content, and FME will sell the international version. And the development aspect of VVM will involve forging creative partnerships between Chinese and international producers in the development of new factual programmes. VVM will act as an incubator for the development and production of co-productions; ideas will be based on Chinese subjects and early development work has already started on several projects including a look at such iconic Chinese characters as Confucius and (The Art of War author Sun Tzu). VVM and its partners are already in talks with several broadcasters including CCTV on titles including Nigel Marven’s Pandas, as well as a major documentary series with CETV, China’s largest education broadcaster. Singapore-based Rajaram joined FME in March 2005, overseeing the distribution in Asia of Fremantle products such American Idol, The Apprentice, Project Runway, the Jamie Oliver franchise, Martha Stewart, Mr. Bean, the Nigel Marven franchise and many other top rated shows from a vault of almost 20,000 hours of programming. “My initial thought, honestly, was that I had never sold a thing in my life,” he says, about making the jump from producer and programmer to content licensing and distribution. “But then I realized that as a broadcaster I’d effectively been selling content to the audience, to the advertisers.” Rajaram cites one of his biggest strengths as being able to spot gaps in schedules, “I understand how schedules work and Asian audiences’ tastes,” he says of his time as vice-president programming for SPH Mediaworks’ free-to-air English-language network Channel I; and prior to as an executive producer at MediaCorp Singapore. “Many relationships have endured since those days, and many of my customers now are people I used to buy with!” Asked about FME’s growth in the region, with distribution of their product having increased around five- or six-fold, Rajaram once again pays tribute to his CEO David Ellender. “A lot of the growth we’ve seen is because of his vision, which is why we’re now the biggest independent distributor in the world. It’s been about picking the right partners; FME has strong relationships with some of the best producers in the world. And it’s a virtuous circle because really good producers realize we have one of the best distribution networks in the world. We have local people in every market, that speak the local language and have an in-depth knowledge of local schedules.” “Even projects like the MDA fund and the Vision Ventures Media joint venture reflect what FME (under Ellender) has done with first-look deals with the world’s top producers,” Rajaram modestly eventually admits that there’s plenty he brought to those equations including deep existing relationships with MDA and many local production talents. “There’s a huge amount of production talent in Asia, but with local commissions tending to be quite small, there’s a certain amount of education necessary to help Asians think bigger. It’s a mindset thing that we at FME feel we can definitely help change – bringing a global perspective. I have tremendous pride in our production Kylie Kwong – My China, and that’s only the beginning.”