Company Launches & Partnerships
Comedy Gives Back CEO Amber Lawson has launched a new MCN, Good Amplified, dedicated to helping non-profits with their digital strategies. The MCN’s initial roster of partners includes the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Endemol Shine North America and Just Entertainment Studios have signed a deal with Hologram USA. Hologram USA’s technology can project holographic images of stars both living and dead. Under the deal, Just Entertainment and Endemol will have exclusive rights to develop TV programming using Hologram USA’s technology, including a TV series documenting the “live” performances of holographic celebs. Under the partnership, content will be digitally distributed on FilmOn TV Networks’ FilmOn.com.
Comcast-owned Fandango has inked a deal with movie-theater advertising company National CineMedia. Fandango will offer National CineMedia with exclusive “sets of aggregated moviegoer data,” according to the release. In exchange, theater-goers will be reached with pre-film ads promoting online ticket-buying.
Fox Networks Group (FNG) has formed a new joint venture with former 20th Century Fox Film CCO Tony Sella to develop original content, integrations and promotions, to help brands effectively and organically reach viewers. The branding firm will be named AKS Content. FNG Chief Peter Rice and COO Randy Freer have also signed on to oversee the venture.
Film
Industry veteran Todd Olsson has joined as a sales consultant at International Film Trust while Kenner Bolt has been appointed to the newly created position of Director of Acquisitions.
Josh Reinhold is now the VP at To-Be-Named Matt Alvarez Company He was previously a Creative Executive at Relativity Media.
Betsy Steinberg is now the Executive Director at Kartemquin Films. She was formerly the Managing Director at the Illinois Film Office.
TV
Ovation has signed on John Malkin as its EVP of Content Distribution and will oversee the network’s distribution efforts across all platforms, digital and otherwise. Formerly, Malkin served as VP of Affiliate Distribution at NFL Network.
Thomas Ferguson has been named the Director of Licensing for Endemol Shine North America. He was previously a Manager of Franchise Management at ESNA.
Ten execs have been elected to the National Association of Television Program Executives’ board of directors for a two-year term. The new members are Jack Bamberger (AOL), Nicole Bernard (Fox Group), Charlie Corwin (Endemol Shine North America), Mark Greenberg (EPIX), Keli Lee (ABC Ent. Group), Armando Nuñez (CBS), Eric Rovner (WME), Luis Silberwasser (Telemundo), Simon Sutton (HBO) and Marta Voda (Viacom).
Jennifer Wong Grazier is now the Head of Business Affairs at Legendary Television & Digital Media. She was formerly the VP of Business Affairs at NBCUniversal.
Jonathan D. Hills has been upped from VP to SVP of Digital Media at Bravo Media in New York.
Dirk Hoogstra is now the CCO at Stephen David Entertainment in New York. He was previously the EVP, General Manager at History & H2.
Ryan Jackson has been upped from Manager of Cable Listings & Editorial to the Editorial Chief of Communications at Disney/ABC Television Group.
Michael Engleman is soon to be named the EVP of Entertainment Marketing & Brand Innovation at TNT & TBS. He was previously the EVP of Marketing, Digital & Global Brand Strategy at Syfy & Chiller. Jeff Gregor is now the Chief Catalyst Officer at TNT & TBS. He was previously the EVP, CMO at TNT & TBS.
Richard Frankie is currently pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the EVP of Business Management at Legendary Television & Digital Media.
Carrie Gillogly has been upped from Director to VP of Scripted Programming at AMC.
Jonathan Koa is now the SVP, Scripted Programming at Condé Nast Entertainment. He was previously the Executive Director of Comedy Development at ABC Entertainment.
Isaac Lee is now the Chief News & Digital Officer, Univision Communications, Inc. and CEO at Fusion. He was previously their President of News & Digital.
Rod Lundgren is now a Coordinator of Television Development at Latin World Entertainment. He was previously a Coordinator of Development at NBCUniversal International Television Production.
Vinnie Malhotra is now the SVP of Documentaries, Unscripted & Sports Programming at Showtime. He was previously the SVP of Development & Acquisitions at CNN Worldwide.
Eric Weinberger is now the President of Bill Simmons Media Group and will also EP Simmon’s upcoming HBO talk show. In addition he will handle the building of a new content website and a podcast network and help to develop scripted and non-scripted projects, shortform digital content and other creative projects, as part of Simmons’ first-look deal with HBO. Prior to this post he was at NFL Network, where he helped create and oversee the network’s live studio programming.
Kate Mitchell is now the SVP of Ad Sales at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in New York. She was formerly the VP of Ad Sales at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Courteney Monroe is now the CEO at National Geographic Global Networks. She was formerly the CEO at National Geographic Channels U.S. Ward Platt is now the COO at National Geographic Partners. He was previously the COO, Fox International Channels and CEO at National Geographic Channels International. Jeffrey Schneider is now the EVP of Business & Legal Affairs at National Geographic Partners. He was previously the EVP of Business & Legal Affairs at National Geographic Channels.
Flavio Morales is now the EVP of U.S. Initiatives at Endemol Shine Latino. He was previously the EVP at Big Vida Entertainment.
Kelly Nash is now the Director of Non Fiction & Alternative at AMC & SundanceTV. She was formerly the VP of Unscripted Development at Fishbowl Worldwide Media.
Tom Rogers will be named a Non-Executive Chairman of the Board at TiVo in addition to his post at President and CEO.
Jacqueline Sacerio is now the VP of Television at The Mark Gordon Company. She was formerly a TV Lit Agent at CAA.
Max Taylor is now the Director of Drama Development at Paramount Television. He was previously the Manager of Scripted Television at Endemol Shine North America.
Anne Wahlström is now the Head of Entertainment at FremantleMedia Finland. She was formerly the Creative Director of Productions at Endemol Shine Finland.
Management, PR, Agencies
Josh Glick has been hired by Grandview as a talent manager. He makes the move from Gersh where he was a talent agent with clients that included Olivia Cooke and Diego Boneta.
Beth Blickers is now a Lit Agent at APA in New York. She was formerly a Lit Agent at Abrams Artists. John Pantle has been upped from Agent to the VP of Concerts at APA.
Mark Gordon has been upped from Partner of TV Literary to Partner and Head of International Scripted Television at ICM Partners in London.
Rick Lefitz is now the Partner at Rain Management Group. He was previously a TV Lit Agent at CAA.
Chase Northington has been upped from Coordinator to TV Lit Agent at Verve.
Conan Smith is now the Head of Comedy & TV Packaging at Don Buchwald & Associates in New York. He was previously the Partner at Converge Media.
Nick Collins has been promoted from Talent Agent to Partner at Gersh Agency. Collins’ clients include Taylor Kinney, Eric McCormack and Liam James.
Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.
Greg Clayman, Vimeo’s General Manager of Audience Networks, has left to pursue other opportunities. In his role at Vimeo, Clayman headed up the company’s on-demand business. Sam Toles will now take on that role as Head of Global Content and Distribution, a newly expanded position. Toles previously was the VP of Content Strategy & Business Development.
YouTube has hired on Neal Mohan as its Head of Product and Design. Previously, Mohan served as Google’s VP of Display and Advertising Products.
YouTube video marketing company Pixability has signed on Norman Rohr as VP, Global Operations and Strategy. Formerly, he was the Head of SMB Customer Acquisitions and SMB Marketing at Google Canada.
Machinima has hired Don Reilley as VP, Head of National Brand Partnerships. Reilley will oversee deals and staff for domestic sales operations, and will work closely with marketing clients. Most recently, Reilley served as EVP of Global Ad Sales and Operations for Major League Gaming.
Endemol Shine Group’s London-based Kudos has hired Phil Temple as an EP. He joins from the NBC-owned Carnival Films, where he was a development producer after two years as the company’s Head of Development.
Rebecca Kearey has been upped from EVP to President of Fox Searchlight International and will oversee all overseas marketing and distribution functions at the two divisions. Since 2005, Kearey has lead the international marketing and distribution of Searchlight titles.
Bob Bowen has been hired by Amazon Studios to become Head Of Music and will lead the studio’s music strategy, partnerships and licensing; drawing talent to work on its series and movies; and building partnerships and opportunities to leverage the body of musical works for platforms like Amazon’s own Prime Music. He was formerly the President of Music at Relativity Media.
Vernon Church is now the President in addition to his post as COO at TruthCo. in New York. Brian LaRock is now the Head of Finance at TruthCo. He was previously the CFO at NewsCred, Inc. Rajiv Menon is now the Cultural Analyst. He was previously the Research Executive at Flamingo.