about bgoodmedia
Dieter Debruyn (38) is the founder of bgoodmedia. Dieter discovered his love for film and television at a very early age. Growing up between figures and paperwork (his father and grandfather ran an accountancy firm), he soon yearned to lead a more creative life and, having first qualified as a chef, started his studies at the renowned RITS Film and Television University in Brussels. It was there that he discovered his love of storytelling and quickly got hooked on conveying messages to large audiences.
Dieter graduated as a film director at the end of the four year course, writing, producing and directing his first 35mm short movie, Regen & Gaslicht (Rain and Gaslight), an adaptation of the eponymous short story by Belgium’s foremost author in the genre of Magical Realism, Hubert Lampoo. The film was critically acclaimed, and Dieter was set to continue his career in the Belgian film industry. Whilst continuing to source financing for his next project, Dieter decided to take a job in the television industry for a couple of months, a seemingly innocent move that subsequently proved to be life-changing, both personally and professionally. It was here that he met his future wife, Sue Green who was at that time working for Grundy Worldwide, one of the original production companies working on an international basis.
After working as a consultant producer for Grundy on several projects, in 1997 Dieter was offered the opportunity to set up Grundy Belgium in order to produce Kinderpraat, a Flemish version of the popular BBC show Small Talk, which had already been successfully adapted for audiences in Sweden, Spain, Greece and the USA. The show became an instant hit on VTM.
Other productions for VRT and VT4 followed, as well as further series of Kinderpraat. 2002 proved to be pivotal for the company (which in the meantime had been renamed FremantleMedia Belgium) being the year in which VTM commissioned a Flemish version of the international hit Idols (Idool 2003), a show which soon became a phenomenon beyond compare in the market. New commissions from VTM, as well as from SBS, quickly followed and Dieter and his team became responsible for some of the biggest successes in the broadcasters’ schedules, including X-Factor, Boer zkt Vrouw (Farmer wants a Wife – which was originally reformatted in Belgium and went on to become one of the company’s most prolific and highest rating formats worldwide), De Topmanager (The Apprentice), Safe (Going For Gold), FamilieRaad (Family Feud), Schoon en Meedogenloos (How Clean is Your House), Project Runway, Supertalent in Vlaanderen (Got Talent), De Huisdokter (House Doctor), and many others…
In 2007, Dieter finally got the chance to go back to his roots and to rekindle his first love with the sale of his first drama series, 200 episodes of the telenovela Sara (Ugly Betty) to VTM. The telenovela broke all records. Sara mania took the country by storm, and VTM was proud to have one of the biggest successes in its broadcast history. Sara was nominated for several prizes, and won 3 important national Televisie Sterren (National Television Awards), including the most prestigious: Most Popular Television Programme across all genres, awarded by the viewers.
Dieter left Fremantle in 2009 and set up BGoodMedia, his own production company, exclusively representing the UK-based All3Media International catalogue. All3Media is one of the most successful global production and distribution companies in the world with a catalogue of approximately 2,200 hours covering all major genres, with a focus on drama, factual programming, entertainment and formats. They also actively license quality programming to over 1,000 broadcasters around the world, offering the best from the independent sector. Their programmes include top-selling drama series such as Midsomer Murders, George Gently, Wild at Heart, Hollyoaks and Skins, factual entertainment formats Fifth Gear, Homes under the Hammer and Undercover Boss and entertainment formats Cash Cab, The Cube and Lingo.
Together with All3Media, Dieter is determined to continue making his mark in the world of Belgian TV, entertaining you and enjoying himself in the process.
