Company Launches & Partnerships
Dalian Wanda Group will invest $3.3 billion dollars in EuropaCity, a mega-project near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport that will boast a theme park, attractions, cultural exhibitions, retail shops, outdoor sports venues and restaurants over about 200 acres and will create 14,000 jobs and due to open in 2024.
Warner Bros has acquired DramaFever, a U.S.-based company that operates subscription and on-demand video services. The deal follows SoftBank’s acquisition of the company in October 2014 in what was to be that company’s latest foray into becoming a global Internet power. The deal includes DramaFever’s flagship DramaFever channel, which offers Korean television and film drama, as well as programming from other countries, to subscribers in the U.S. and around the world.
Newsy, the video news service from Scripps, has joined forces with the programmatic advertising platform SpotX to manage its ad inventory and programmatic sales on connected TVs. The partnership makes Newsy one of the first programmers to monetize the fourth gen Apple TV’s operating system.
FilmOn, an internet TV provider, has joined forces with the FM hip-hop station Hot 97 in a multi-year deal that will see FilmOn live-stream Hot 97’s Summer Jam hip hop festival, which takes place at East Rutherford, NJ’s Metlife Stadium. FilmOn will also add four more channels. FilmBox Russia will focus on Russian movies and TV, while Kino Polska International will focus on Polish TV and movies, and Kino Polska Muzyka will focus on Polish music. MadscreenBox is a new interactive game channel that combines TV, mobile, and tablets.
Maker Studios, the MCN and digital studio owned by Disney, has launched Maker Studios Spark, a massive initiative that will invite digital creators from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Vine to pitch concepts that can be funded and developed into cross-platform franchises or new series. Spark has quietly been in operation in recent months, working with creators including YouTube prankster Magic of Rahat and The Ellen DeGeneres Show alum Sophia Grace.
Fifth Journey, the Hong Kong-based gaming company, has signed deals with MGM, Universal, and Lionsgate. The startup will develop mobile games, virtual reality content, and interactive entertainment based on the studios’ movies. Each studio will also take an equity stake in the company. Fifth Journey will get involved earlier in the development process, sitting in the writers’ room for television shows and reading scripts of films, alleviating the tight deadline that usually comes with entering at the last stages of a project.
The self-service influencer platform Famebit has joined forces with the e-commerce platform Shopify. FameBit creators will now be able to launch their own multichannel stores on Shopify, and have a dedicated personal concierge at their disposal. They will also be able to generate donations to charity, and access applications to cross-promote their brands across digital channels. Brands using Shopify will be able to leverage FameBit influencers to promote their products.
Film
Rachel Fleit has been named the Creative Director at Killer Films Media. She was formerly the Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer at Honor NYC.
Rishi Rajani, Greg Self, Kevin Shih and Liz Varner have all been promoted from Executive Assistants to Creative Executives at Studio 8. Rajani shifts from Assistant to Lit Division Head Chris Goldberg to CE in the Literary department, focusing on intellectual property in film and TV. Self was formerly the assistant to founding Studio 8 exec Jon Silk and will now be a CE in motion pictures. Shih, who was assistant to Studio 8 founder and CEO Robinov, will now be a CE in motion pictures. Varner, who previously worked under TV division head Katherine Pope, will now become a CE in TV.
David Shane is now pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the EVP of Chief Communications Officer at Relativity Media.
Beatriz Campos has been named the VP of Sales at StudioCanal. She was formerly the Director of Sales at Endemol Shine International in London. Sarah Mottershead has been named the Senior Sales Coordinator. She was formerly the Sales Coordinator at FremantleMedia in London. Mirela Nastase has shifted regions in her Sales Manager position from Munich to London. Elise Woolfe has been named the Sales Manager at StudioCanal. She was formerly the Senior Sales Executive at All3Media International. Elizabeth Trotman has been upped from General Manager of Sales and Marketing to Chief Executive of its Australia and New Zealand operations. She will take over from Robert Slaviero, who is leaving the company.
TV
Adam Stotsky has been upped from GM to President of E! Entertainment, which increases his responsibilities to include all unscripted programming and development. Stotsky previously served as General Manager for E! He will continue overseeing all day-to-day operations of the network, including news, digital, marketing, communications, research and acquisitions. He will also continue on as President of Esquire Network.
Cort Cass has been upped from Executive Director to the VP of Comedy Development at ABC Studios.
Kim Granito has been upped from VP to the SVP of Digital Media & Integrated Marketing at IFC in New York.
David Arroyo has been upped from SVP, Legal Affairs and Internal Audit to the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Scripps Networks Interactive in Knoxville, TN. Andy Broyles has been upped from VP to SVP of Internal Audit at Scripps Networks Interactive. Timon Marshall has been named SVP and upped from Head of Legal, Latin America to Head of Legal, International at Scripps Networks Interactive.
Andrew Warren will pursue other opportunities at the end of 2016. He was previously the Senior EVP, CFO at Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, MD. Discovery has hired Howard Fischer Associates to lead the search for a replacement.
Louis Holder has been named the Chief Technology Officer at YipTV. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer at Innovaci in New York.
Luciana Nogueira has been named the Sales Director, Latin America at Endemol Shine International in Sao Paulo. She was formerly the International Distribution Manager at Media Mundi Brasil.
Melissa Prince has been upped from Director to the VP of Corporate Communications at INSP in Charlotte.
Julia Veale has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Business, Product Development & Management at Showtime Networks.
Management, PR, Agencies
Annick Muller has been named the SVP at Wolf Kasteler Public Relations. She was formerly the VP at ID Public Relations.
Steven Salisbury has been hired as a Talent Manager at The Cartel. He was previously a Talent Manager at Untitled Entertainment.
Matt Snow has been hired as a TV Literary Agent at Paradigm. He was previously the VP of Development at Tornante.
Evan Adlman has been named Head of Programmatic at Conde Nast Entertainment. He was previously the VP at PubMatic. Brooke Ellis has been named the Executive Director of Digital Design and UX at CNE. She was formerly the Creative Director of the design and strategy firm frog. Stephanie Fried has been named the SVP of Research and Analytics. She was formerly the VP of Digital Insights and Marketing at Discovery Communications. Matthew Starker has been named the GM of Digital Strategy and Initiatives. He was formerly CNE’s VP of Digital Strategy, has been promoted to General Manager of Digital Strategy and Initiatives.
Gary Marenzi has been named the Head, Entertainment Sales & Partnerships at IMG in Los Angeles & London. He was previously the Founder, President at Marenzi & Associates.
Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.
David Litt has been hired as the Head Writer and Producer for Funny or Die’s Washington, D.C. operations. He was previously a speechwriter for President Barack and was the lead joke writer for the past four White House Correspondents Association dinners. He also helped the administration produce viral videos.
Natalie Kerris has been hired as the VP of Global Communications at Twitter. She previously spent 14 years as Apple’s Sr. Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications.
Bernadette Simpao has been signed on to Apple to handle PR efforts for content and apps related to the Apple TV, as well as for iTunes TV and movies, podcasts, books, and apps. Previously, she served as VP of Corporate Communications for AMC Networks.
David Treadway has been hired as the joint Managing Director for Europe, to serve alongside existing Managing Director for Europe Simon Kay at the digital media services company RR Media. Treadway will handle developing & enhancing RR Media’s 24/7 broadcast services. He previously was the CEO of WRN Broadcast.
Drew Bradstock has been hired as the SVP of Product at the Index Exchange. He was previously the Group Product Manager of Google’s Ad Exchange.
Brian Murphy has been named the Chief Technology Officer at Tumblr. He previously served as VP of Engineering at The New York Times.
Jukin Media, the media company known for its library of viral video clips, has partnered with the Spanish multimedia company Vocento. Jukin will license videos to Vocento, which boasts over 20 owned and operated media properties.
Susan Leiderman has been hired as the Communications Manager at Variety. She was formerly the Executive Administrator at PointRoll Inc.
Brittany Macofsky has shifted from Coordinator of Communications to an Associate Talent Relations Manager at Hulu.
Jigar Mehta has been named the VP of Digital Operations at Millennial-oriented multi-platform media company Fusion. Mehta previously served as Engagement Lead at AJ+, Al Jazeera’s online news channel.
Mark Connon has been named the Global Chief Mobile Officer for AOL platforms and advertising, a newly created position at AOL. He previously served as EVP of Platform Business at Millennial Media.
Summer Anne Burton will be a new Executive Creative Producer at BuzzFeed and will create content for brands. She previously worked in the creative unit BuzzFeed BFF, which is devoted to crafting native content for social platforms.
Leslie Ferraro has left her role as Co-Chair of Disney Consumer Products to pursue other opportunities. James Pitaro, formerly her Co-Chair now has sole control of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. Previously Pitaro was ran Yahoo’s media properties until 2010.