Head office re-organisation reflects association’s growing scale and scope
FRAPA, the Format Recognition and Protection Association, has announced a management re-organisation, as it positions itself to meet the challenges of today’s global formats market and the demands of its growing membership of increasingly powerful media players.
As of this month, Eric Kafoe will serve as the association’s managing director, while long-time FRAPA administrator Bianca Rootsaert will take on the role of general manager, responsible for compliance, governance, and legal and regulatory issues.
Kafoe joined FRAPA in 2020 to manage events, communications and marketing, bringing with him a wide range of skills built up over 20 years on the front line of the formats industry.
FRAPA co-chair Jan Salling, head of BBC Studios Nordics Productions, said: “As a well-liked, respected and experienced TV-industry professional, Eric’s the perfect person to steer FRAPA into the future. Thanks to market fragmentation, consolidation and digital disruption, the global format industry’s terms of trade are changing almost by the week. The board, all of whom have busy day jobs, realised that we needed a dedicated TV-industry insider to help us navigate these challenges and keep FRAPA relevant and influential. Erik ticks all the boxes.”
Meanwhile, FRAPA’s growing membership, which now includes format power players such as BBC Studios, ITV Studios and KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency), means that the association’s back-office admin is becoming increasingly complex.
FRAPA co-chair Phil Gurin added: “It’s also increasingly important, as an organisation that operates in the grey zone of IP protection, that FRAPA’s compliance is beyond reproach. This is Bianca’s forté — nobody knows better what a not-for-profit can and can’t do. With Eric’s understanding of the TV industry and Bianca’s legal expertise, FRAPA has all the in-house skills it needs to move up to the next level.”