Former Nine Entertainment and Endemol Shine Australia bosses Hugh Marks and Carl Fennessy are understood to be planning their own TV and film studio, subject to investor support.

Sydney Morning Herald media writer Zoe Samios quotes “industry sources familiar with the plans” that the duo were looking for a strategic investor to establish the business by next year.

Marks (pictured by GXpress at Inform in 2018) is understood to be bound by a non-compete agreement which prevents him from running a TV company or online classifieds businesses, but may not preclude him running a studio.

Samios says the duo is reported to have tried to recruit talent including Tara McWilliams, described as “the brains” behind Nine’s Married at First Sight.

Marks is a former chief executive of Southern Star – now part of Endemol Shine – and talent management firm RGM Artists.

Fennessy was a candidate for Marks’ job as chief executive of Nine.

Paul Anderson, formerly head of Network Ten, has also moved into film production, joining Byron Studios as chief executive in July.