Company Launches & Partnerships
Lionsgate has made an ownership stake in Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios in a deal valued at an estimated $200 million for more than 50% of the studio. Pilgrim will continue to operate independently under its current management team headed by Piligian. The Studio currently produces 47 unscripted and scripted series across 27 networks, including hits Ghost Hunters, Wicked Tuna and Ultimate Fighter.
AMBI Group has launched a $200 million fund that will fully finance five mid-budget range films, and at minimum ten smaller budgeted features. AMBI Group owners Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino serve as anchor investors in the fund, along with New York based private equity firm Raven Capital Management LLC (“Raven”).
NextVR, a virtual reality live streaming start-up with a focus on live events, has raised $30.5 million in its latest funding round. Formation 8 led the round with others including MSG, dick clark productions, Comcast Ventures, and Time Warner Investments. NextVR raised $5 million a year ago.
Investment adviser The Stagwell Group has acquired Nielsen NRG, one of largest companies that provides movie studios with market research about their releases. NRG will run as an independent entity under the umbrella of the Stagwell family of companies.
The Weinstein Company will lay off between 40 and 50 staffers next week at the Los Angeles, New York and London offices within the film operations including distribution, publicity and legal. Cuts are not expected to affect senior management. The layoffs will mostly involve junior staffers and some mid-level execs and some cuts at Radius-TWC.
Film
Jake Bauman has been named the Literary Scout of New Line Cinema. He was previously a Literary Scout of Chernin Entertainment.
Ben Kim has been named the VP of Development, Film & TV at Electric Entertainment. He was previously a Production/Development Executive at Sneaky Shark.
Aimee LeMaire has been upped from Creative Executive to the Director of Development at Ian Bryce Productions.
Andrew W. Levin has been named the President, Chief Legal Officer at Relativity Media LLC. He was previously the SVP of Government Affairs at T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Kenner Bolt has been named the Director of Acquisitions at International Film Trust. He was previously a Sales & Marketing Executive at MediaXchange. Todd Olsson is now a Sales Consultant at International Film Trust. He was previously the Co-President at Ironclad Films.
Peilin Chou has been named the Head of Creative and Feature Animation at Oriental DreamWorks in Shanghai. He was previously a Partner at Lifefilm Entertainment.
Andrew Gumpert has been named the President, Worldwide Business Affairs & Operations, Motion Picture Group at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He was previously the President of Worldwide Business Affairs & Administration at Columbia Pictures.
Amy Hobby has been named the VP of Artist Programs at Tribeca Film Institute in addition to being the Co-Founder of Tangerine Entertainment.
Nathaniel McCormick has been upped from SVP to EVP of Worldwide Distribution at The Exchange. Caddy Vanasirikul has been upped from Creative Executive to the Head of Acquisitions at The Exchange.
TV
Amazon Studios has hired veteran casting director Donna Rosenstein as Head of Casting. She will be based in Amazon Studios Los Angeles’ offices. She began her relationship with Amazon Studios as a casting consultant for the past two years, working on Transparent and popular drama Bosch.
George Sealey has been upped from VP to SVP of Alternative Programming & Development at NBC Entertainment.
Dannah Shinder has been named the Director of Scripted Programming at The Jackal Group. She was formerly a Manager of Creative Affairs at Sony Pictures Television.
Vinnie Malhotra has been named to the newly created role of SVP Documentaries, Unscripted and Sports Programming at Showtime and will oversee the development and production of Showtime’s growing slate of original unscripted and documentary programming, as well as all future documentary theatrical releases. He previously spearheaded the launch of CNN Films.
Courteney Monroe, currently CEO of National Geographic Channels U.S., has been named the CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, to handle global programming, operations and global marketing for the portfolio of National Geographic Channels worldwide. Ward Platt, formerly the COO of Fox International Channels and CEO of National Geographic Channels International, will now be the COO of National Geographic Partners and with Moore will oversee the entire portfolio of National Geographic Partners’ businesses. Susan Goldberg, now Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic magazine, will continue in that capacity and also take on the title of Editorial Director, and handle all of the publishing activities. Jeffrey Schneider, currently EVP Business and Legal Affairs for National Geographic Channels, will now be the EVP of Business and Legal Affairs for National Geographic Partners.
Dave Snyder has been named the VP of Development at Cineflix Media. He was previously the VP of Development & Production at Jigsaw Productions.
Dirk Hoogstra has been named the CCO at Banijay Entertainment. He was formerly a General Manager at History and H2. In his new role he will oversee development, packaging and sales, shepherding new and current projects.
Richard Cook has been named the VP of Talent at Leopard Films USA. He was previously the Head of Television at Pulse Films.
Jessica Driscoll has been named the VP of Communications at Discovery Channel. She was formerly the Director of Media Relations at HBO.
Humberto Duran has been named the VP of News Operations & Production Management at Telemundo. Humberto was previously an Executive Producer at CCTV America.
Francis M. Buono has been named the SVP of Legal Regulatory Affairs & Senior Deputy General Counsel at Comcast Corporation. He was previously a Partner and Chair of Communications, Media & Privacy Department and Chair, Data Privacy & Security Practice Group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Andrew Bott has been named the Chief Financial Officer at FremantleMedia. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer at BBC Worldwide.
Jeff Conroy is now pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the President, Executive Producer at Original Productions.
Dominic Fails has been named the SVP, Local Media Sales at Univision Communications Inc. He was previously the VP & Director of Sales, Local Media at Univision Communications Inc.
Susan Levison is now pursuing other opportunities. She was formerly the EVP of Original Programming & Production at VH1.
Gary Levine has been upped from EVP to the President of Programming at Showtime Networks.
Christa Robinson has been named the SVP of Communications at CBS News. She was formerly the Chief Communications Officer at Tribune Media.
John Rouse has been upped from SVP to the EVP, Affiliate Relations & Marketing at ABC Television Network.
Shannon Ryan has been named the EVP of Marketing & Communications at Fox Television Group. She was formerly the EVP of Marketing & Communications at FOX Broadcasting Company. Rachel Webber has been named the SVP of Fox Television Group. She was formerly the VP of New Media Business Development at Fox Networks Group.
Mark Sacher has been named the VP of Research at El Rey Network. He was previously the VP of Research at Sprout Network.
Elliott Trice has been named the SVP of Consumer Product at The Weather Company. He was previously the EVP and Head of Product at VivaKi.
Management, PR, Agencies
Molly Barnett has been named the VP of Theatre at DKC in addition to her role as VP of Theatre at O&M. Rick Miramontez has been named the Director at DKC/O&M. He was previously the President at O&M.
Keith Bielory has been hired as an Agent of Alternative Programming & Digital Media at Abrams Artists. He was previously the Director of New Business Development at PMG Sports. Fatmata Kamara has been named the Agent of Theatrical Youth Division at Abrams Artists. Fatmata was previously an Assistant, Theatrical Youth Division at Abrams Artists.
Anne Damato has been named Partner, Literary at Rain Management Group. She was formerly a Manager, Literary at Rain Management Group.
Mark Itkin will retire in January 2016. He was previously a Board Member, Partner, Unscripted TV at WME.
Richard S. Petretti has been named Partner at Sidley Austin LLP. He was previously a Partner, Morgan at Lewis & Bockius LLP. Jack Yeh has been named Partner at Sidley Austin LLP. He was previously a Partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP.
Mike Esola has been hired as a Motion Picture Literary Agent at UTA. He was previously a Motion Picture Literary Agent at WME. Drew Welborn has been hired as a Comedy Touring Agent at UTA. He was previously a Personal Appearances Agent at WME.
Gregg B. Ramer has been named as a Senior Counsel at Loeb & Loeb LLP. He was previously Special Counsel at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Junzi Tan has been named the Associate at Loeb & Loeb LLP. Junzi was previously a PRC Legal Consultant at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
Mark Gordon has been upped to Head of International Scripted Television at ICM Partners where he currently is a Partner. He will relocate to the agency’s offices in London. Anna Stein has been hired as an Agent, Publications at ICM Partners. She was previously a Senior Agent, Literary at Aitken Alexander Associates.
Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.
Vox, the digital news site, launched in 2014, has hired Matthew Vree as its Executive Producer of Video. He previously served as Director of Programming and Executive Producer of PBS Digital Studios, which he also co-founded.
JJ Miller has been named Executive Producer, Video, for Entertainment Weekly and People. She will oversee the two publications’ video programming across all digital platforms and develop TV and other brand extensions. Miller will report to Jess Cagle, People and EW’s Editorial Director. Formerly, Miller served as Senior Creative Executive at Katie Couric Media.
Multi-platform media company First Look Media has hired Adam Pincus as EVP of Programming and Content, managing programming strategy, development and content production. Previously, Pincus served as EVP of Programming and Production at GroupM Entertainment.
Jonathan Koa has joined Condé Nast Entertainment as SVP of Scripted Programming. He will be responsible for developing and producing scripted television projects for CNÉ. He was formerly a comedy exec at ABC.
Ad-buying platform Centro has upped Grace Briscoe to VP, Client Development, Candidates and Causes. Briscoe will now oversee the Centro unit providing digital advertising technology to political marketers. She previously served as a Regional Director for the company.
Ty Ahmad-Taylor has been named the CEO of THX Ltd. He was previously the VP of Smart TV Services at Samsung.
Tom Burns has been named the CTO of Media & Entertainment at EMC Corporation. He was previously the Director of Post-Production Infrastructure at Technicolor.
Colin Ingram has been named the EVP of MSG Productions at The Madison Square Garden Company. He was previously the CEO at Colin Ingram Limited.
Krista Parkinson is now the Owner of MyGradsGetJobs.com in addition to being a USC Adjunct Professor . She was formerly the SVP at Content Partners, LLC.
Jean-Jerome Peytavi has been named the VP of Strategic Marketing at Allied Integrated Marketing. Jean was previously the Director of Marketing at Metropolitan Opera.
Todd Green has been named the SVP of Digital Distribution at Alchemy. He was previously the General Manager at Tribeca Film.