Company Launches & Partnerships

Frederator Networks, the media company founded by longtime animation exec Fred Seibert, will co-launch a Spanish-language YouTube animation network with Mexican animation studio Anima Estudios called Atomo Network. The channel will recruit Spanish-language animators, and provide them with audience-development and programming services.

HBO has signed a major content deal with Hulu Japan which will now have exclusive and wide-ranging access to HBO series, comprising hundreds of hours of programming. Hulu Japan, owned by HJ Holdings, is separate from the U.S.-based Hulu, which is owned by Disney, 21st Century Fox, and NBCUniversal.

Fox Innovation Lab has partnered with Swedish telecom power Ericsson to promote virtual reality, ultra HD, and other next gen video technologies. They plan to work on multiple projects to provide what they call “true connected content experiences.” The Fox unit has heavily promoted VR experiences based on the studio’s movies Wild and The Martian.

Vivendi has begun a hostile takeover for French vidgame company Gameloft, founded by France’s Guillemot brothers, who also started Ubisoft. Vivendi had just owned 30% of Gameloft. Vivendi has since offered 6 Euros per share for Gameloft, representing a 50% premium over the share price when Vivendi started building up its stake in the company last fall. As of Monday, Gameloft shares had been upped to 6.64 Euros per share, up from its 5.48 Euro closing price prior to news of Vivendi’s intention.

Canal Plus is in discussions with Qatari-owned beIN Sports over an exclusive distribution agreement. If approved by anti-trust authorities in France, the deal would give Canal Plus execs a revenue boost while also giving beIN Sports better carriage in France.

Citizen Skull Productions, helmed by Mark Myers, has launched a new management division called CSP Management. CSP manages on camera talent, DPs, Directors, writers, social media influencers and below the line talent. Jane Henriksen has signed on as Partner of CSP Management. She was previously the President of Henriksen Talent Management brings with her veteran actor Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Danielle Bisutti (Insidious: Chapter 2) and Adam Korson (Hot In Cleveland).

NextVR, a leader in bringing immersive live streams of sporting events to viewers, has teamed with Fox Sports. The five-year partnership will allow NextVR stream virtual a wide range of events to which Fox Sports holds the broadcast rights live through VR, starting with Sunday’s Daytona 500, beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The race will be available to view for free through the NextVR portal. Samsung Gear VR owners can download the NextVR app on any Gear VR headset-compatible phones.

NBCUniversal-owned Fandango has acquired the film buff-friendly site Flixster, along with Flixster’s well-known subsidiary, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The deal was reached with Warner Bros. Entertainment, which owned Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes. As part of the deal, Warner Bros. will take an equity stake in Fandango, becoming an ongoing strategic partner.

The Associated Press has launched a new portal for virtual reality and 360-degree news content and is partnering with tech company AMD on the venture, which will provide software and hardware support. The content will be available for headsets including the Oculus Rift, the Samsung Gear VR, and the Google Cardboard.

Time Inc. has acquired /Drive and Fast Lane Daily, two of the most prevalent automotive channels on YouTube. The two properties will now be folded into the Time Inc.-owned website TheDrive.com. TheDrive, launched in 2015, is part of the The Foundry, a recently-launched Time Inc. unit focused on content production.

Film

Nicole Seligman is leaving her post as President of Sony Entertainment at the end of March after 15 years with the company to pursue other opportunities. In her position she was credited with getting the company through the corporate computer hacking scandal as well as heading the big move in New York for Sony.

Christine Benitez has joined the Paramount Pictures as VP of Multicultural Marketing. In her new role, she will be responsible for the development and implementation of strategies that reach multicultural audiences across all marketing disciplines for the studio’s theatrical releases. A 15-year multicultural marketing veteran, Benitez joins Paramount from The Walt Disney Studios where she was Director of Multicultural Initiatives.

Steve Barnett has been named the President of Production at Endurance Media. Barnett joins James Tomlinson, who is VP Production. Barnett has spent 20 years as an exec and producer at companies such as WWE, Dimension Films and Atmosphere Entertainment, where he was a producer on 300.

Christophe Lambert is now pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the CEO at EuropaCorp I Paris. Former Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger will take over the position in an interim capacity.

Mike Leeder has been hired as an Executive Producer at 108 Asia in Hong Kong. He was previously a Freelance Producer/Casting Director.

Claudia Lewis will leave her post as President Production at Fox Searchlight as of May 23^rd, 2016 and will pursue other opportunities.

Max Pirkis has been named the Head of Acquisitions and Distribution at Embankment. In his new role, he will manage Embankment’s acquisitions slate while also coordinating international delivery and distribution of current Embankment titles. Greg Martin will now report to Pirkis as an Acquisitions and Distribution Exec. Sara May is leaving her consultancy role at Embankment to pursue other opportunities.

TV

Dave Mace has been hired as the EVP of Development at Brian Graden Media where he oversee the development of television and digital content for the company. Previously, he served as VP of Alternative and Non-Fiction Programming at A&E, where he oversaw Storage Wars, Flipping Vegas, and Lachey’s Bar. During his lengthy career, he also founded VH1’s Creative Lab, Viacom’s first-ever internal team devoted to creating innovative, forward-thinking development.

Peter Bazalgette has been upped from Non-Executive Director to Non-Executive Chairman at ITV (as of May 12th, 2016).

Paul Lee has left his post as President of ABC Entertainment and is now pursuing other opportunities. Channing Dungey has been upped from EVP of Drama Development, Movies & Miniseries to the President at ABC Entertainment. She becomes the first black executive to run one of the major networks’ entertainment divisions.

Rabih Gholam has been hired as the President of Unscripted Television at Studio71. He was previously the EVP and Head of Unscripted Programming at Ryan Seacrest Productions.

Morgan Greco has been upped from Sr. Director to the VP of Social Media & Fan Engagement at A+E Networks in New York.

Emily Levitan has been hired as the Senior Manager of Development, Film & Television at Activision Blizzard Studios. She was previously the Creative Executive at Shiny Penny Productions.

Damian Pitman has been hired as the Head, Development at betty in London. He was previously the Head of Development at Optomen Television.

Adam Reed has been upped from EVP to the President at Thinkfactory Media.

Angela Santone has been upped from SVP to the EVP, Global Chief Human Resources Officer at Turner in Atlanta.

Sarah Wright has been upped from Controller, Acquisitions to the Director, Acquisitions at Sky in London.

Julia Veale has been upped from SVP to EVP Business, Product Development and Management at Showtime Networks. She will continue to oversee product strategy, product development and product management for Showtime subscription services across various platforms, technologies, and devices including the Showtime streaming service, Showtime Anytime.

Management, PR, Agencies

Gary Marenzi has been named Head of Entertainment Sales & Partnerships in a newly appointed position at IMG. He will head global sales for entertainment programming. Marenzi was previously the President of Paramount International Television, MGM Worldwide Television and UIP Pay Television. He most recently worked as a consultant via Marenzi & Associates.

Chad M. Christopher, Esq. has been named the Principal Partner at Stone, Genow, Smelkinson, Binder & Christopher, LLP.

Richard Fisher and Paul Reisman have been upped from VP to the Co-Heads of the Theatrical Division at Abrams Artists Agency in New York. Billy Serow has been upped from VP to the Head of Voice-Over Division at Abrams Artists.

Annick Muller has been brought on as the new SVP at Wolf Kasteler P.R.’s New York office, effective March 1. She was previously a publicist at IDPR, where she began in 2001. She will continue her work with personal clients, on award campaigns and with television networks in launching new and current programs.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

The strategic video content studio Magnet Media has hired Neil Chase as its first Chief Strategy Officer. Chase previously served as a digital media consultant, as SVP, Editorial for Federated Media Publishing, and as Continuous News Editor at The New York Times.

Joseph Meehan has been hired as an Associate Manager in Features & Business Development at Variety. He was previously the Features Coordinator at Variety. Hanna Pachman has been hired as a Sales Coordinator at Variety Insight. She was previously a Creative & Market Coordinator at Ramo Law.

Bailey Rosser has been hired as the Vice President of Content Strategy & Audience Development at Ripple Entertainment He was previously the Audience Development Strategist at YouTube Space LA.

Martin Tremblay has been hired as the EVP of Strategy & Development at The Just for Laughs Group. He was previously the President at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Patti Coleman has been hired as the SVP and Head of Business & Legal Affairs at Rhino Entertainment. She was previously the SVP of Business & Legal Affairs at Warner Bros. Records.

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.

Company Launches & Partnerships

Sony Pictures Television is launching the True Crime channel in the UK on Freeview. The new channel will be the platform’s only dedicated crime channel. True Crime’s shows will include Deadly Women, Crime 360, The Devil You Know and The 9/11 Faker as well as Dog the Bounty Hunter and Paternity Court.

Verizon and Hearst have joined together on a digital video initiative named Verizon Hearst Media Partners and will release two new video channels in the spring: RatedRed.com, a lifestyle brand aimed at red-state millennials, and Seriously.TV, a news-comedy channel. Content from the venture will be distributed over YouTube, Verizon’s Go90 mobile streaming service, and other platforms.

Jon Jashni is now the Principal of Raintree Ventures, a new investment and incubation fund for entertainment initiatives focusing on immersive content and location-based ventures. He was formerly the President/Chief Creative Officer at Legendary Entertainment. Legendary chairman/CEO Thomas Tull has said he will still collaborate with Jasni in this new venture.

Turner’s core intelligence platform for advertising sales, Turner Incite will now be powered by the ad sales technologies of the IBM Watson platform, and leverage predictive analytics from MarketShare, an advanced analytics tool from the cloud-based information services company Neustar. As part of that move, James Russo will now serve as SVP, Client Strategy & Development and make recommendations to clients based on an insight-driven selling approach. He was previously at Nielsen, where he served as SVP of Global Consumer Insights.

Sarah Adolphson, Michelynn Woodard, Regina Miller and Catherine Kimmel have Co-Founded The Artemis Agency, a firm dedicated to providing support for the philanthropic strategies of individual, corporate and nonprofit clients. Clients include Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, Geffen Playhouse and Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project, among others. Adolphson was previously the Executive Director at WME Foundation. Kimmel was a Consultant to the ONE Campaign. Miller served as the Chief Development Officer of Geffen Playhouse and President & Founder at RSM Global. Woodard was previously the President & CEO at Dr. Phil Foundation.

Turner’s Super Deluxe team will launch Surf.co, a media aggregation site that will allow users to manually collect videos and GIFs from YouTube, Facebook, Giphy and elsewhere, organizing them into collections – or “boards.”

YouTube is funding over fifty videos, shot at YouTube Spaces studios around the world, showcasing women’s perspectives to empower female creators. The United Nations will partner with YouTube and have enlisted seven female YouTube creators to serve as “change ambassadors,” creating videos that promote gender equality and tolerance. YouTube has also joined forces with the actress Geena Davis and her Institute on Gender in Media, a nonprofit devoted to improving gender depictions onscreen and creating equal opportunities. The Institute provided consulting to creators as part of the program. Videos from the program began rolling out yesterday on the YouTube Spaces channel.

Film and TV studio Mance Media is launching 4KUniverse, an entertainment channel devoted to 4K Ultra HD programming. The service will be available through YouTube and Vimeo to cable, IPTV, and MSO subscribers and will debut internationally in April at $5.99 per month. Mance Media is actively seeking more 4K programming for the channel.

Bravo Media has launched Jet Set, a lifestyle destination vertical on BravoTV.com. It will focus on adventure and aspirational travel content. It will include The Tour Group Guide, a short-form video series showcasing exotic locations around the world, and featuring tips from travel experts.

Film

Kyle Davies is leaving his post as Distribution Head at Relativity/EuropaCorp and is rumored to be in talks with Paramount Pictures to help run distribution at that studio. The deal at Paramount is not yet completed and contracts are not signed. Previously he was EVP of Theatrical Distribution at Overture when Relativity acquired that company and then continued to hold that position.

Alex Godelman has been named the CTO at Cast & Crew Entertainment Services. He was formerly the CTO, SVP at Sony New Media Solution in New York.

Mary Parent has been named the Vice Chairman of Worldwide Production at Legendary Entertainment. In her role, she has oversight of all of the company’s operations, including TV and digital, calling the shots in television. Previously Parent founded Disruption Entertainment which had a deal at Paramount. Bruce Rosenblum is leaving his post as President of Legendary Television and Digital Media following Legendary Entertainment’s recent acquisition by China’s Dalian Wanda Group.

Robert Copple is now pursuing other opportunities He was formerly the President, Chief Operating Officer at Cinemark.

Melanie Miller has been named the EVP at Samuel Goldwyn Films. She was previously the VP of Acquisitions & Marketing at Gravitas Ventures.

Alex Saks has been named the President at June Pictures. He was formerly the Agent of International & Independent Department at ICM Partners.

Mike Viane is now pursuing other opportunities. He was formerly the Head Film Buyer at Regal Entertainment Group.

TV

Nancy Cotton has been named the U.S. President of Production at Heyday Television, the joint venture of feature producer David Heyman and NBCUniversal International Studios. She was previously the SVP of Creative Affairs at Fox 21 TV Studios.

Michael Lang has been named the EVP of International Development & Digital at Discovery Communications (as of April 2016) He was formerly the President of the Lang Media Group.

Luis Fernández has been named the EVP of Network News at Telemundo. Fernández will manage the network news operations and manage editorial direction, programming and production of all news properties. Fernandez previously was the President of Entertainment at Univision. Fernández replaces Luis Carlos Vélez who will shift to Telemundo News’ existing talent team as a News Anchor and Senior Correspondent.

Ken Gibbs has been named the VP of Social Media Marketing Strategy at BET Networks in New York. He was formerly the Senior Director of On TV Operations at BET Networks.

Peter Salmon has been named the Chief Creative Officer at Endemol Shine Group, which will take effect this summer. He will leave his post as BBC Studios Director on May 31. In his new post he will lead the creative direction of ESG’s worldwide network which includes 120 production companies in over 30 markets. Emma Moloney has been named General Counsel Endemol Shine Group. She was formerly the General Counsel to News UK. Boudewijn Beusmans has been named EVP, Endemol Shine Group in addition to Beusmans’ role as Co-CEO at Endemol Shine Netherlands in Amsterdam. Georg Ramme will be stepping down as Managing Director of Endemol Beyond Germany and as Global Managing Director of Endemol Beyond International. Michael Kollatschny will take over on May 1 as Managing Director. He is currently Head of TV and Talent for Twitter Germany.

Nathaniel Hargress has been named the Senior Counsel of Business & Legal Affairs at Viacom Media Networks. He was formerly the Associate Attorney of Business & Legal Affairs at Discovery Communications.

Eduardo Hauser has been named the Managing Director of Latin America and the Caribbean at Scripps Networks Interactive. He was formerly the Founder, Managing Partner at Hauser & Co. in Miami.

Dana Honor will leave her post as SVP of Comedy Development and Lisa Katz will leave her post as SVP of Drama Development at 20th Century Fox Television in July 2016 to pursue other opportunities.

Veronica Pottinen has been named the Head of Insight at all3media International in London. She was previously the Head of International Research at ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

David Shaye has been named the SVP of Development at Rogue Atlas Productions. He was formerly the VP of Development, U.S. Alternative Programming at eOne Television.

Alan Wieder has been named the VP of Series Development at MTV. He was formerly the SVP at Development at Maverick Television.

Management, PR, Agencies

Jeff Raymond has been named SVP at Rogers & Cowan. SVP Lindsay Galin will join him as Co-Managers of the Talent Department. The pair will manage initiatives in digital, content curating, and social media. Before Rogers & Cowan Raymond started his own agency, PYR PR and Galin ran Lantern PR.

Laura Brokaw has been named the Agent in Production at Gersh. She was previously the Agent in Production at The Skouras Agency. Stewart Cavanagh has been named the VP of Alternative TV at Gersh. He was formerly the VP of Alternative TV at Rebel Entertainment Partners.

Denise Durante has been upped from Co-Managing Director to the Chief Marketing Officer at Wasserman.

Richard Licata is now the Principal at Licata & Co., The Awards Agency. He was formerly the EVP of Communications at NBC Entertainment.

Stephanie Moy has been hired as a Talent Manager at Elevate Entertainment. She was previously a Talent Manager at Luber Roklin.

David Pahl has been named the Senior Counsel at DLA Piper Media in New York. He was formerly the Chief Counsel at ESPN.

Danielle Rossi is now a Coordinator at The Cartel. She was previously an Assistant at The Cartel.

Stephanie Rothman is now a Coordinator at The Rothman Brecher Agency. She was previously an Assistant at The Rothman Brecher Agency.

Brian Young is now a Manager/Producer at Three Six Zero. He was formerly the Principal of ArtForm.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Mark Connon has been named the Global Chief Mobile Officer for AOL platforms and advertising. He previously served as EVP of Platform Business at Millennial Media.

Tom Calderone has been named the Global Head of Content Partnerships at Spotify. He was formerly the President of VH1.

Ryan Horrigan is the new Chief Content Officer at virtual reality studio Felix & Paul and will oversee content development, strategy, and partnerships for the studio’s L.A. office. He previously served as a development and production executive at New Regency.

Corey Weiner will shift from COO to President of mobile video and branded content advertising platform Jun Group. He also currently serves as CEO of HyprMX, a Jun Group subsidiary.

Bonnie Pan has been named President of Endemol Beyond USA, the digital content arm of Endemol Shine North America. She was previously the EVP of Programming for Disney’s Maker Studios. Adrian Sexton, who was the Interim President of Endemol Beyond USA since August 2015, will resume his role as COO.

James Baker has been named the President at Red Arrow Entertainment Group, a company that produces TV, feature film and digital content for an array of global networks and platforms. He was formerly the Managing Director at Red Arrow UK and Global Scripted Strategy in London.

Sam Neswick has been upped from Chief Strategy Officer to the COO at Participant Media.

Stephanie Diehl has been hired as a TV Research Coordinator at Variety Insight. She was previously the Tracking Assistant at Variety Insight.

Jigar Mehta has been named the VP of Digital Operations at Fusion in Oakland. She was previously the Engagement Lead at AJ+.

Paul Rodriguez has been named the VP of Audio Services & Development at Roundabout Entertainment. He was formerly the VP and Director of Feature Sales at Todd-AO/Soundelux.

Company Launches & Partnerships

After launching a new eSports vertical, Yahoo Sports has signed a deal with the NHL and will begin live-streaming up to four NHL hockey games per week, delivering in-game highlights. The NHL deal runs through the end of the 2016-2017 season. The live-streams, which will be free, are available to U.S. audiences.

YouTube network StyleHaul is joining forces with Time Inc. in a new multi-year advertising partnership and will create branded projects, and play them across multiple platforms. They’ll also target marketers with a focus on fashion or beauty.

Production company Shaftesbury and its digital studio Smokebomb Entertainment are teaming up with the Banff World Media Festival on the digital series pitch competition, The Audience Metrics Partnership Accelerator. The competition’s top three finalists will be sent to Banff to pitch their projects in front of a live industry audience; after the fest, one or more of the projects will be selected to move into development with Shaftesbury/Smokebomb. The festival takes place from June 12 through the 15.

Bestselling author Harlan Coben and Nicola Shindler are now Joint CEOs of Final Twist Productions. Studiocanal will handle international distribution of the original content. Final Twist will be based in the U.S. and develop contemporary thrillers for U.S. broadcast networks. Final Twist will partner with Red Production Company, the company Shindler founded which is best known for the BAFTA award-winning series Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley. Final Twist is already in development on the returning drama series, Six Years, adapted from Coben’s bestselling novel of the same name.

USA Today Network is launching VRtually There, the first branded news experience presented in virtual reality. Premiering in the spring of 2016, VRtually There will work with its newsrooms to develop a slate of regularly-scheduled original programming covering a variety of topics, including music news from Nashville, sports news from Detroit and Indianapolis, political news from Washington DC, outdoor news from Reno and Fort Collins, tech and life news from San Francisco and Los Angeles, and consumer tips from Reviewed.com. 

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen is launching Nom, a new digital platform that will feature heavily interactive live-streamed broadcasts centering on food and cooking. “If you have a food blog and want to connect with a bigger audience, Nom is for you,” said Chen in a press release. Nom has raised $4.7 million in Series A funding.

The stock-media provider Shutterstock has signed a three-year deal with the Associated Press. Through the deal Shutterstock’s U.S. clients will be able to license over 2 million video clips and 30 million photos from news service’s daily and archived collections.

Gunpowder & Sky, the newly formed digital studio focused on both short content and feature length films, has inked a development partnership with Shareability, a startup devoted to viral branded videos. Shareability will develop long-form content, invest in distribution platforms, and hire execs. The companies are also exploring co-productions.

Film

Kevin Spacey will not be heading Relativity as Chairman, but his Trigger Street Partner, Dana Brunetti will be made the President of Relativity Studios. Per Spacey’s statement, “Relativity emerges from bankruptcy and now that I have a much deeper understanding of the specifics of the amount of work that will be needed to shepherd the company through this transition I have concluded it is work that I neither have the time nor the wherewithal to take on.”

IM Global, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA, has just made three executive hires: Wifreddy Chiang will now be the VP of Operations and Finance, Louise Heseltine will join as Director of International Marketing and Publicity, and Mike Pastrano has been hired as as Manager of Business and Legal Affairs. Chiang was previously VP at Qualia Legacy Advisors, Heseltine was Director of PR at MLPR, and Pastrano as an Attorney at Lionsgate. In addition, Amanda Archibald has been upped to VP, International Marketing and Publicity and Callum Grant has been upped from Creative Executive to Director, International Sales and Acquisitions.

Erik Lomis is leaving his post as Distribution Chief at the Weinstein Co. after five years to work at Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures in a new executive role overseeing distribution.

Michael Fisk has been named the EVP of International Marketing at Lionsgate. Previously he spent 12 years at Sony Pictures as the SVP of International Marketing, overseeing the marketing campaigns for the 007 series among other films.

Christine Birch has been named the EVP Domestic Creative Marketing Strategy at Sony Pictures. In the new position, she will work across marketing functions including advertising, publicity, digital, and creative content to unify campaign strategies. Previously she was the President of Marketing at Focus Features.

Andrew Woodhead has been named the Managing Director in the TV division at Working Title. He was previously an Exec Producer at Kudos, working on Spooks and the UK version of Law & Order. He also served as Exec Producer on Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude and Sky 1’s Sinbad.

Steven Knauss has been upped from Special Assignments Executive to the Assistant Executive Director at Directors Guild of America. Rachel Paster has been named the Assistant Executive Director of the Directors Guild of America in New York. She was formerly a Partner at Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis.

Cale Boyter has been named the EVP of Development at Legendary Entertainment. Boyter was previously the President at Disruption Entertainment. Ali Mendes has been named the VP of Development at Legendary Entertainment. Mendes was formerly the VP of Development at Disruption Entertainment.

Sarah J. DeBruin has been upped from PR Manager to the Senor Manager of Publicity at Shout! Factory.

George Leon will leave his post as EVP of Consumer Marketing at Sony Pictures Entertainment to pursue other opportunities in May 2016.

Brett Belinsky has been named the President of Delivery Operations at Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. He was previously the Managing Director at Encompass Digital Media Ltd.

TV

Lauren Kisilevsky has been upped from Executive Director to VP of Original Movies at the Disney Channel. She will continue to oversee creative development for some of Disney Channel’s upcoming projects, including High School Musical 4. Projects she recently oversaw include Teen Beach 2, Zapped, and How to Build a Better Boy.

Helen Cooper has been upped from Acquisitions Manager to the Head of Acquisitions at Endemol Shine Group (London, as of late March 2016).

Nancy Cotton has been named the President at Heyday Television U.S. She was formerly the SVP of Creative Affairs at Fox 21 Television Studios.

Ed Crick has been named the Head of Original Programming, UK at Red Bull TV in London. He was previously the Creative Director at Tern TV. Jim Sayer has been named the Head of TV Programming, UK at Red Bull TV. He was previously the CEO at Maverick Television.

Rob Klippel has been named the SVP of Advanced Advertising Products & Strategy at Charter Communications in Stamford, CT. He was previously the VP of Advanced Platforms at Comcast.

Margaret Lazo has been named the Chief Human Resources Officer at Univision Communications (as of April 11th, 2016) She was formerly the Global Human Resources Leader at GE Capital in New York.

David Leavy has been shifted from Chief Communications Officer and Senior EVP of Corporate Marketing & Business Operations to the Chief Corporate Operations and Communications Officer at Discovery Communications.

Christopher Barry has been named the SVP and Head of Finance and Business Planning, International and Digital at A+E Networks. He was previously the SVP of International Strategy and Digital Media at A+E Networks. Mark Tuohy has been named the VP of Creative Affairs at A+E Studios. He was previously the Director at Fox International Channels.

Elena Blekhter has been named the Manager of Sales, Marketing & Content at Dynamic Television. She was formerly the Coordinator of Drama Development at NBC Entertainment.

Mirella Breda has been upped from Creative Director to the Managing Director at Initial (London, as of May 2016).

Maya Brooks has been named the VP of Publicity & Talent Relations at AMC and SundanceTV. She was formerly the Original Content Publicity at Hulu.

Kate Farrell has been upped from Executive Producer to the VP of Original Programming at WE tv in New York. Lauren Lazin has been named the Executive Producer at WE tv. She was formerly the Director of L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin.

Teri Kennedy has been named the EVP of Development & Original Unscripted Programming at Ryan Seacrest Productions. She was formerly the Head of Current Production at Oxygen Media.

Ronak Kordestani has been named the Head of Development at Tremendous! Entertainment. He was previously the Head of Development at Trium Entertainment / INE Entertainment.

Sally Miles, Founder of Passion Distribution, has left her post as CEO to pursue other opportunities.

Emmanuelle Namiech has been named the CEO at Passion Distribution (as of May 3rd, 2016). He was previously the Managing Director at Banijay International.

Bruce Rosenblum will leave his post as the President at Legendary Television and Digital Media to pursue other opportunities.

Nick Samwell-Smith will leave his post as Managing Director at Initial in May to pursue other opportunities.

Sandra Smith has been upped from Head to the Director of Production at Initial in London.

Haley Stoessl has been upped from Coordinator to the Manager of Development at The Cartel.

Stephanie Todd has been upped from Senior Director, Planning & Programming to the VP of Programming at HLN in Atlanta.

Management, PR, Agencies

Jeffrey Azoff is now a Principal at Full Stop Management. He was previously a Music Agent at CAA. Tommy Bruce is now a Music Manager at Full Stop Management. He was previously a Music Agent at CAA.

Publicists Joy Fehily and Michael Donkis have closed Prime PR and are joining PMK•BNC as EVPs. They will also bring their staff. They will bring their clients including Christopher McQuarrie, James Gunn, Seth MacFarlane, Aaron Sorkin, Robert Downey, Jr. and Olivia Wilde among many others.

Jenny Bloom has been upped from Senior Publicist to the VP of Film Publicity at Prodigy Public Relations.

Lindsay Galin has been made the Co-Manager of the Talent Division in addition to her title as SVP of Entertainment at Rogers & Cowan in New York. Jeff Raymond has been named the Co-Manager, Talent Division and upped from VP to SVP of Entertainment at Rogers & Cowan.

Gabrielle Kachman is now a Talent Agent at Gersh in New York. She was formerly a Talent Manager at Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Tovah Silbermann is now a Personal Appearances Agent in the Comedy Department at Gersh in New York. He was previously the Founder of the Empire Biscuit Comedy Festival and Associate Producer of Boy Band in New York.

Jason Kasperski has been upped from Senior Publicist to the VP, Corporate Communications at Prodigy Public Relations.

Jerilyn Novia has been upped from Coordinator to Comedy Manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Eric Pertilla is now a Talent & Literary Agent at Paradigm. He was previously a Talent & Literary Manager at Mosaic.

Jennifer Weinbaum Ray has been named the Manager of Literary at Heroes and Villains Entertainment. She was formerly a Literary Manager at Gotham/Principal.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Alan Osetek has been hired as the global CEO at Digilant, a Boston-based programmatic advertising company. He previously served as the Global President of Resolution Media, a digital marketing unit of Omnicom Media Group.

Maggie Lane has been hired as a Coordinator in Interactive at Skybound Entertainment. She was formerly a Coordinator at Pukeko Pictures.

Bonnie Pan has been named the President at Endemol Beyond USA. She was formerly the EVP of Programming at Maker Studios. Georg Ramme will leave his post as Global Managing Director at Endemol Beyond International and Managing Director at Endemol Beyond Germany in May 2016 to pursue other opportunities.

Douglas Reed has been named the EVP of Business Development, Radio & Library Services at SourceAudio in Philadelphia. He was previously the VP, Creative Director at Premiere Networks.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Entertainment One have signed a deal for SPHE to distribute films from eOne’s specialty label, Momentum Pictures, across physical and digital home entertainment platforms globally (excluding Canada). Momentum Pictures’ current release slate includes The Program, from director Stephen Frears and All Roads Lead to Rome, starring Sarah Jessica Parker. SPHE will also manage U.S. distribution for eOne television titles on DVD and Blu-ray, including Haven and Bitten.

Rick Eid has signed a two-year overall deal he has signed with Universal TV. He will also be joining Law & Order: SVU, produced by Universal TV, as executive producer and showrunner for the upcoming 18th season. Previously Eid worked with SVU producer Dick Wolf when he served as co-executive producer on the mothership Law & Order series and co-created Conviction for NBC. Eid’s recent credits include CBS’ Hostages and showrunner on TNT’s Dark Blue.

Sony Pictures Television acquired a minority stake in UK’s Fable Pictures. The company was founded by Faye Ward who was previously at Alison Owen’s Ruby. Per the deal she will develop film and TV projects. She is currently producing Stan and Ollie, starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, about Laurel and Hardy’s august days as an iconic if faded act. Also upcoming is Country Music with Karen Gillan attached. Previously Ward produced the film Suffragette.

MarVista Entertainment is signed a deal with SpectreVision on four films over two years where MarVista will finance and co-produce horror and thrillers genre films. MarVista’s films include Most Likely to Die, Satanic, and A Deadly Adoption starring Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig. They are also in production on the thriller The Deep End. SpectreVision was founded by Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, and Josh C. Waller. The company’s credits include Cooties bought by Lionsgate and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night acquired by KinoLorber. The two companies plan to go into production on their first project this summer.

Entertainment One has inked an overall first-look deal with veteran reality television producer Chris Deaux and his Two Fifteen West Entertainment. Under the pact, Deaux will develop and produce unscripted programming with eOne. Prior to founding Two Fifteen West Entertainment, Deaux served as SVP of Development at Intuitive Entertainment, SVP of Development at Film Garden Entertainment and was head of development for Banyan Productions.

Love Nature and Smithsonian Earth are partnering with Plimsoll Productions on the natural history project, Camp Zambia, 50 hours of 4K wildlife and nature programs over the next two years. The production will utilize a new facility in Africa. Content will range from footage of animal behavior to character-led series, showcasing the breadth of African wildlife, for Love Nature’s Canadian and international SVOD and TV offerings and Smithsonian Networks’ streaming service.

Company Launches & Partnerships

Bravo Media and Mashable Studios will team up to co-produce four new short-form originals, rolling them out this year via Bravo Media’s and Mashable’s digital platforms. Bravo Media and Mashable Studios also recently worked on Real Thoughts with Real Housewives, a short-form digital series relating to the Real Housewives franchise. The first of the four new series to emerge from the new partnership will premiere this spring.

Viacom has signed a multi-year, cross-platform deal with comScore. Vantage, Viacom’s data platform for advertisers, will now leverage comScore’s measurement tools to help advertisers target specific consumers across multiple Viacom platforms and properties, including linear, VOD, and digital services.

Warner Bros. TV Group has reached a template agreement that grants ABC full in-season stacking rights to all episodes of new series, giving the network both the on-demand and streaming rights to all new episodes of series debuting next season, as well as from 2017-2018. Previously, Warner Bros. has only granted ABC a slate of five rolling episodes at a time to use across its platforms.

MCN Fullscreen has bought StageBloc, a fan-engagement startup that runs websites, marketing, and e-commerce operations for musicians and will rename it Fullscreen Direct. It will allow digital creators to engage with fans directly, whether through ticket-selling, exclusive content, or general discussion. StageBloc’s employees will stay on. A forthcoming SVOD service is also in the works from Fullscreen.

Plimsoll Productions now owns a minority stake in specialist distributor Magnify Media. Under the deal, Magnify will have exclusive rights to distribute Plimsoll’s catalogue. The company will also continue to work with third-party content. Plimsoll is a UK and U.S.-based factual entertainment and wildlife producer that currently producing 23 series and over 125 hours of programming for both domestic and international networks.

BAFTA is now accepting applications to the BAFTA Scholarship Programme, which enables talented British citizens, who are in need of financial support, to take a course in film, TV or games in the UK. The deadline for applications for the 2016-17 academic year is June 17. Recipients are granted up to £12K towards course fees, mentoring support, and access to BAFTA events.

Film

Naomi Kawase is now the President of the Cinéfondation and has been named to the Short Films Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Kawase was a previous Camera d’Or winner (1997’s Suzaku) and in 2015 opened Un Certain Regard with Sweet Bean.

Jameson Parker is now the Director of Development at Brightlight Pictures in Vancouver. Parker is an award-winning Canadian actor and producer, as well as a co-founder of Whiskaye Films. His credits include TV movie The Mechanics Of Love for Pixl, and sketch comedy pilot The Peter N’ Chris Show.
Christina Kounelias has been named the EVP of Worldwide Marketing & Communications at Participant Media (as of March 28th, 2016) She was previously the Chief Marketing Officer at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Terry Curtin has been hired on as the Head of Theatrical Publicity at DreamWorks Animation, to start on April 11. She was previously the Head of Strategic Marketing and Global Communications at STX Entertainment. She replaces Robin Chandler, who is leaving to start an independent consulting practice, with DreamWorks Animation as its first client.

Joe Aguilar has been named the CEO at Wink Animation in Shanghai. He was formerly the Chief Creative Officer at Oriental DreamWorks.

Christine Birch has been named the EVP of Domestic Creative Marketing Strategy at Sony Pictures Entertainment. She was previously the President of Marketing at Focus Features.

Steve Miller has been named the EVP of Creative Advertising at Broad Green Pictures. He was formerly the Head of Creative Services at A. Smith & Co. Productions.

Audrey Lee is now the EVP and Deputy General Counsel at Lionsgate. She was previously the SVP of Legal Affairs at Sony Pictures, overseeing legal work involving home entertainment and television distribution. In her new role, she will work on M&A and legal issues for SVOD channels, digital initiatives and location-based entertainment as well as marketing and promotions. James Marsh has been named the SVP of Investor Relations at Lionsgate. He was formerly the Managing Director at Piper Jaffray.

TV

David Eilenberg has been named the President of ITV Entertainment, ITV America’s in-house reality production company and will oversee content creation. He was previously the SVP Unscripted Development, Late Night and Specials, at TNT and TBS, overseeing unscripted shows Cold Justice and Conan among others.

Richard Freudenstein is leaving his post as CEO of Australian pay-TV giant Foxtel to pursue new opportunities. Peter Tonagh will be taking over as CEO. Tonagh was previously the CEO of News Corp Australia.

Pauline Bohm has been upped from SVP to the EVP of International Marketing & Communications at NBCUniversal International Marketing & Communications.

Daniel Coronell has been upped from EVP, Executive Director to the President of News at Univision Communications in Miami.

Chris Deaux has been named the President at Two Fifteen West Entertainment. He was formerly the SVP and an Executive Producer at Intuitive Entertainment. Joanne Yang has been named the Senior Director of Development at Two Fifteen West Entertainment. She was previously the Director of Development at Intuitive Entertainment.

Dawn Olmstead has renewed her contract and has expanded her role as in addition to being the EVP of Development at Universal Cable Prods. she will add oversight of development for Wilshire Studios, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment’s unscripted production abnner, while continuing to handle scripted development for UCP.

Jed Meyer has been named the EVP of Corporate Research at Univision Communications in New York. He was formerly the Global Research Director at Annalect.

Jonathan Abraham has been named the Director of International Sales & Acquisitions at Portfolio Entertainment in Toronto. He was formerly the Manager of International Sales & Marketing at Zuru.

Jonas Agin has been upped from Executive Director to the VP of Original Series at Disney Channel & Disney XD. Lauren Kisilevsky has been upped from Executive Director to the VP of Original Movies at Disney Channel.

Colin Devenish has been named the SVP, Development at Intuitive Entertainment. He was formerly the VP, Development at Peacock Productions.

Lisa Edwards has been named the Creative Director of Factual at Lion Television in London. She was previously the Director of Programmes at Twenty Twenty.

David Eilenberg has been named the President at ITV Entertainment. He was formerly the SVP of Unscripted Development at TNT and TBS.

Tim Hancock has been named the Commissioning Editor of Features & Daytime at Channel 4 in London. He was formerly the Head of Development at Naked Entertainment.

Brian Morewitz has been upped from VP to the SVP of Drama Development at ABC Entertainment.

Andrew Woodhead has been named the Managing Director at Working Title Television UK in London. He was formerly the Executive Producer at Kudos Film & Television.

Management, PR, Agencies

As previously announced last week, Michael Donkis and Joy Fehily have been named EVPs of Entertainment Strategy & Development at PMK-BNC. They Co-Founded Prime PR which has since been folded into PMK-BNC. As part of the move, Maria Herrera, Rebecca Taylor, Cassandra Vargas, Rachael Reiss and Caitlin Scott have been hired on as Publicists at PMK-BNC. There were previously Publicists at Prime PR.

Bill Gersh has been upped from Coordinator to an Alternative TV & Digital Packaging Agent at Gersh.

Adam R. Mehr has been named a Partner at Pryor Cashman LLP. He was formerly a Partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP.

Alec Shankman has been upped from VP to the SVP, Head of Alternative Programming, Digital Media, Licensing & Branding at Abrams Artists.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Tom Rothman has been appointed by President Obama to the National Council on the Arts. The council advises the National Endowment for the Arts chairman on agency policies and reviews grant applications, funding guidelines, and leadership initiatives. Rothman is currently the Chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

Sam Barlow will now serve as the Executive Creative Director, conceiving and directing new interactive experiences at interactive tech and video firm Interlude. Barlow is a video game director and developer; his interactive movie Her Story won for Best Narrative at the 2015 Game Awards.

Katy Chen is leaving her post as VP of Unscripted Development at MCN Fullscreen to pursue other opportunities. In the interim, Lisa Anderson, Manager of Unscripted, and Taylor Paul, Coordinator of Unscripted, will fill her previous duties.

Gabriel Brakin is now the General Counsel at Participant Media in addition to his role as EVP of Business Affairs. He will handle film financing and investments, work on implementing strategic business initiatives and manage the Business Affairs team.

Zamora Dean has been named the Senior Manager of Licensing & Marketing at 4k Media Inc. in New York. She was previously the Licensing Manager at COPCorp/Knockout Licensing.

Company Launches & Partnerships

NBCUniversal has launched the NBCU Content Studio, a creative unit aimed at developing and producing branded, original content for NBCU’s advertising partners. NBCU executive Wendy Wildfeuer has been upped to SVP of The Content Studio and will run the studio, overseeing a staff of one dozen. The Studio’s content will be available on NBCU platforms, as well as on clients’ retail channels, apps, and mobile sites.

As part of a geographical rebalancing of its activities special effects company Double Negative will close its Singapore production facility to take effect by May 20. The company said the closure will result in the redundancy of the majority of its staff in Singapore.

Univision Digital has launched Univision Beta, an in-house innovation lab with the aim to accelerate digital reach and innovation across social and digital platforms, with a particular focus on news and information. The initiative was created as part of a three-year collaboration between Univision Digital and the MIT Media Lab. The Univision Beta team will be led by Carlos Martínez de la Serna, Univision’s Director of Digital Innovation.

Thor Bradwell has launched his own shingle, Thirty Three Management and will be the Principal. He was formerly the Manager at LBI Entertainment. He will bring over clients including include Bella Thorne, Ashley Benson, Dianna Agron, and Justin Kelly.

AOL will not renew their partnership with Whalerock Industries, the media firm that has worked to build up Moviefone’s website and apps since 2013. As of April, Moviefone will be back in-house at AOL. AOL will seek to expand Moviefone’s social reach and mobile capabilities, and invest in original video content, both internally and via deals with production companies.

Discovery Communications has launched One Discovery, an expansive marketing platform with a particular emphasis on reaching younger viewers. One Discovery will include Discovery Engage (Discovery’s data management and analytics platform), Discovery Digital (Discovery’s TV Everywhere platform), as well as Discovery VR, Discovery Web-Native Networks, and the in-house production team Discovery Brand Studios.

Chinese streaming giant iQIYI has inked a content deal with the British Film Institute. BFI will curate a selection of films for iQIYI, all of which have screened at the BFI London Film Festival and iQIYI will be BFI’s exclusive Chinese VOD partner for the collection. The collection will include 20 titles to start and is expected to grow.

Japan’s Softbank has invested $250 million in WME-IMG, placing the value of the agency at $5.5 billion. Private equity firm Silver Lake is the biggest shareholder in WME-IMG, with an investment of $200 million for a 31% stake back in 2012. Softbank’s key media investment advisor is Raine Group, which had an integral role in the Endeavor-William Morris merger that led to the creation of WME. Previously Softbank has invested $250 million in Legendary Entertainment.

Film

The Marketing and Distribution department at Sony is getting a reorganization under President Josh Greenstein to evolve Sony’s international marketing operations. As part of the reorganization, 20 of its 600 worldwide staffers will be laid off. Sony executives Danielle Misher and Damon Wolf have been named the Co-Heads of Marketing for Screen Gems, TriStar and Acquisitions. On the International Marketing side, Joseph Liao has been hired as the CMO in China and Stephane Huard as Managing Director in France.

Fred Berger has been named a Partner at Automatik where he will focus on filmmaker-driven prestige films as well as high-end commercial films.  Berger will retain his current projects and jointly produce going forward including producing the Damien Chazelle musical La La Land.

Robin Chandler is launching his own, as yet unnamed, independent consulting practice. He was formerly the Head of Theatrical Publicity at DreamWorks Animation. Terry Curtin will take over as Head of Theatrical Publicity at DreamWorks Animation (as of April 11th, 2016). He was formerly the Head of Strategic Marketing & Global Communications at STX Entertainment.

Tamara Hunter has been named the VP of Casting at Sony Pictures Entertainment. She was previously the VP of Features Casting at 20th Century Fox.

Jason Rogers is now a Support Producer, Social Media Specialist at Buck Productions. He was formerly the Production Assistant at ACQUA Films and Ultra 8 Pictures in Toronto.

Dominic Rustam has been upped from VP to the SVP, Production at Voltage Pictures. Michael Wickstrom has been upped from VP to the SVP of Royalties, Merchandising, and Music Administration at Voltage Pictures.

Marco Shepherd has been upped to Head of Production and Development at Centropolis Entertainment. He will oversee development and production for all of Centropolis’ film and TV projects, as well as licensing for consumer products.  He started at the production company in 2005.

Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum have been named the Co-Heads of Production at Fox Searchlight in addition to their roles as EVPs. They will responsible for Fox Searchlight’s annual slate of films and work together on all aspects of production for the company including development, packaging, budgeting, casting and production.

Thomas Lesinski has been named the CEO of Sonar Entertainment. He had been serving as interim CEO since September to replace Gene Stein. Lesinski has served on the Sonar board since 2013. He was previously the CEO and founder of Energi Entertainment and prior to that, the President of Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment and president of Worldwide Home Entertainment for Paramount.

TV

Casey Kyberh has been named the VP of Drama Development at 20th Century Fox TV. She was formerly a Research Executive at 20th Century Fox TV and oversaw the studio’s primary and secondary research efforts, from providing ratings analysis and tracking series awareness, to leading focus group testing of both new and returning shows.

Christine Davis has been named the Director of Animation Production at Tricon Films & Television in Toronto. She was previously the Founding Partner at Animated Solutions. Cheyanne Dillenberger has been named the Director of Factual Development at Tricon. She was previously the Director of Development at Discovery Studios. Dan Miller has been named the VP of Factual Development. He was formerly the Executive Producer, Showrunner of the series Going Deep with David Rees.

David Ellender is now pursuing other opportunities. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer at Slingshot Global Media.

Tara Gaule has been named the VP of Format Sales & Development, Europe at Small World IFT. She was previously the VP of Sales at Zodiak Rights in London.

Cindy Kelly has been named the President of Advertising Sales at Entertainment Studios Networks. She was previously the SVP of Strategic Sales & Solutions at ION Media Networks in New York.

Mike Kim has been named the SVP of Content Distribution at Ovation TV. He was formerly the VP of Affiliate Distribution & Partnerships at Participant Media.

Mark Linsey has been named the Director at BBC Studios in London. He was formerly the Acting Director at BBC Television.

Phil Zimmerman has been upped from Senior Director to the VP of Communications at Discovery Channel.

Kareem Chin has been named the VP of Investor Relations at Viacom. He was formerly the SVP of Investment Banking, Media & Technology Group at Jefferies & Company.

Michael Klein has been named the EVP of Original Content at MTV and he will oversee all original programming across MTV and its related brands. He most recently was the EVP Programming and Content Strategy, Digital Channels, for Condé Nast Entertainment in charge of the development and production for the company’s portfolio of Millennial-targeted digital channels.

Pauline Bohm has been upped from SVP to the EVP of International Marketing & Communications at NBCUniversal International Distribution.

Management, PR, Agencies

CAA has promoted several Agent Trainees. David Ball has been upped from Agent Trainee to Music at CAA in London. Natalie Drye is now an Executive, Property Sales at CAA Sports in London. Matt Brownstein has been upped to Agent in the Baseball department at CAA Sports. Angela Dallas, Phil Quist, Lanell Rumion and Ben Schildkraut (New York) are now TV Agents. Janet Kim and Ali Spiesman (New York) are now Music Agents. Allison Wruble is now an Executive in the Innovation Group at CAA.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Richard Beckman has left his post as Chief Revenue Officer at Vice Media to pursue other opportunities.

Bob Pilon has been named the EVP of Social Impact at Participant Media. He was formerly the Chief Development Officer at The ONE Campaign.

Matthew Borst has been named the Director of Connected Content at MTV. He was formerly the Director of Social Media & Integrated Marketing at Endemol Shine North America.

Jeffrey Glaser is now the President at Wondery. He was formerly the EVP of Current Programming at 20th Century Fox Television.

Michael Schneider has been named the Executive Editor at Indiewire (as of April 11th, 2016). He was formerly the Chief Content Officer at TV Guide Magazine.

Company Launches & Partnerships

Mattel is placing content production under one umbrella with new division, Mattel Creations in order to drive premium content across multiple platforms including theatrical, television and digital. Catherine Balsam-Schwaber will join Mattel in the new role of Chief Content Officer, where she will lead Mattel’s efforts to implement an integrated strategy for content creation and distribution. Christopher Keenan has been upped from Creative Executive to the SVP, Content Development & Production. Richard Gros will serve as Chief Human Resources Officer, Juliana Chugg will serve as Global Core Brands Officer and John Vandemore has been named the Chief Financial Officer, Global Brands and Commercial.

Chinese streaming giant iQIYI is set to launch in Taiwan this week.  This will mark the first time that iQIYI has reached a territory outside of mainland China.

Lionsgate is partnering with Kevin Hart and his digital production unit, Hartbeat Digital. The OTT service, called Laugh Out Loud, will be the exclusive home for all content created by Hart outside of his live performances and film roles. Hart will also produce a new social media adventure game developed by the company Fifth Journey as part of the deal, which Hart will write and star in.

WWE has signed a multi-year deal with Snapchat. Under the pact, Snapchat will produce and distribute Live Stories from WWE events, including Wrestlemania. The first Live Story distributed under the partnership will be April 3’s WrestleMania 32 event in Arlington, Texas.

Online women’s media company SheKnows Media will acquire HelloFlo, a women’s health brand that offers videos, advice and products directed toward women and girls. HelloFlo Founder Naama Bloom, will continue to head the business ahead of the acquisition along with her new role as SVP of Integrated Marketing at SheKnows Media.

Film

Kyle Davies has been named the President of Domestic Distribution at Paramount Pictures. He previously was the President of Worldwide Distribution for Relativity Media. Davies also served Relativity as President of Theatrical Distribution following the company’s acquisition of Overture Films’ marketing and distribution assets.

Barbara Broccoli has been named BAFTA’s VP for Film. She co-owns EON Productions with her brother Micael G. Wilson and together they have produced the last eight Bond films including Spectre. Greg Dyke has been appointed BAFTA’s VP for TV.
David Kosse is now the President of STX International. This new division will identify and execute global opportunities for development, production and distribution of STX’s content. As part of the new division, STX will be setting up its own distribution operations in the UK. He was previously the Head of Film4. He will consult Film4 through winter and oversee the transition to his successor.

Jason Cassidy is leaving his post as Chief of Marketing at Open Road Films to pursue other opportunities. Jonathan Helfgot has been hired as President of Marketing at Open Road Films. Previously Helfgot founded the Rec Room, an original and branded content studio, where he was also a Managing Partner.

Dion Foley is now the Principal and Producer at production company Push Play Productions. He was previously a Producer at Nasser Entertainment / Nasser Group North.

Jonathan Helfgot has been named the President of Marketing at Open Road Films. He was previously Founded and was the Managing Partner at Rec Room.

Matt Jackson has been named the Head of Film Production & Acquisitions at The Mark Gordon Co. He was previously the President of Production at IM Global.

Rachel Traub has been upped from Executive Assistant to Creative Executive of Film & Scripted Television at Warrior Poets in New York.

TV

Natasha Hritzuk has been named the VP of Client Insights and Content Partnerships Research at Turner and will handle research strategy and data analysis for Turner Incite, Turner’s intelligence platform for ad sales. She previously served as Global Head of Research and Insights for Microsoft Advertising.

Mark Pedowitz has reupped at the CW and signed a new multi-year contract to continue to serve as President. He joined the CW in 2011 after heading Business Affairs at ABC.

Laurel Weir has been named the SVP of Strategic Insights & Research at MTV. She was formerly the SVP of Strategic Insights & Research at Viacom Kids and Family Group in New York.

Casey Kyber has been upped from SVP of Research & Marketing to the VP of Drama Development at 20th Century Fox Television.

Cort Lane has been upped from VP of Animation Development & Partnerships to the SVP of Animation & Family Entertainment at Marvel.

Nicolas Atlan is now pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the Co-CEO at Splash Entertainment. Steve Rosen has been upped from Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer to the Co-CEO at Splash Entertainment. Mike Young has been named Chairman in addition to his role as Co-CEO at Splash Entertainment.

David Di Lorenzo has been named the President at Kabillion. He was previously the VP of Sales & Digital Distribution at Splash Entertainment.

David Ellender has been named the President of Global Distribution & Co-Productions at Sonar Entertainment. He was previously the CEO at Slingshot Global Media.

Cyrus Farrokh has been upped from VP of Distribution & Acquisitions to the SVP and Head of Sales at Electus International. Max Richards has been upped from Executive Assistant to Manager of Sales & Acquisitions at Electus International.

Eli Kirschner has been upped from Director of Development to the VP of Development at Syfy.

Stacey Kleiger has been upped from Production Manager to the VP of Production at Warrior Poets.

Chris Peña has been named the SVP of Local Media Television News at Univision Communications at Miami. He was previously the Senior Executive Producer at MSNBC. Lourdes Torres has been upped from VP, Regional News and Director of Special Projects to the SVP of Political Coverage & Special Projects at Univision. Eric Ratchman has been named the EVP of Content Distribution at Univision in New York. He was previously the SVP of Global Distribution Strategy & Business Development at Disney Media Networks.

Mario Ruiz has been upped from SVP of Talent Development & Strategy to the SVP of Music & Entertainment Projects at Telemundo in Miami.

Hillary Smotherman has been upped from Casting Producer to the Director of Casting at 44 Blue Productions.

Tara Taghizadeh has been upped from Publicist to Senior Publicist at BBC Worldwide North America.

Gaude Paez has been named the VP and Head of Corporate Communications at Hulu. She was previously the SVP Corporate Communications and Digital Publicity at Fox Broadcast Co. She will be based at Hulu’s headquarters in Santa Monica and reporting to Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins.

Steve November is leaving his post as Director of Drama at ITV after 16 years to pursue other opportunities. Prior to working at ITV he produced flagship ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

Amy Friedman has been named SVP Programming and Development for Sprout and will handle all content for the 24-hour preschool network, reporting to Frances Berwick, President of Lifestyle Networks, NBCUniversal. Friedman takes over for Andrew Beecham, who left the company in early 2016 after a 10-year tenure. Previously, she was the Senior Advisor for Scratch, Viacom’s creative team.

Management, PR, Agencies

Jennie Church-Cooper is now a Manager of Talent & Literary, Haven Entertainment She was formerly a Manager of Talent & Literary at  Principato-Young Entertainment.

Micaela Coria has been named the Executive Director of Business Strategy at BLKBX. She was formerly the VP of Operations at Evolution Holistic Medical Group. Paul Nguyen has been named the Executive Director of Operations at BLKBX. He was previously the Director of Operations at Sony DADC New Media Solutions.

Margaret Riley has been made Partner at Talent & Literary at Lighthouse Management & Media. She was formerly a Manager of Talent & Literary at Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Jacqueline Vignone is now the VP of National Sales & Marketing at HelloGiggles, Time Inc.’s mobile- and social-first women’s brand. Previously, Vignone served as Director of Sales for CBS Digital Media Group.

Andrea Ching has been named the Chief Marketing Officer at social video analytics platform OpenSlate. She previously was the SVP of Integrated Marketing at Turner Broadcasting.

Brian McAndrews is leaving his role as Chairman, President and CEO of Pandora to pursue other opportunities. His role will be divided among three people. Founder Tim Westergren, will take over as CEO. Independent board member Jim Feuille will be the Chairman of the Board. CFO Mike Herring will also now be the company’s President.

Deborah Henderson has been named the General Counsel and Head of Production at Insurrection Media. In her new role she will launch and supervise Insurrection Media’s digital video production unit. Previously she served as General Counsel for Zodiak Americas.

Greg Durkin is now the Chief of Marketing at entertainment research firm Portent.IO. In this new role, Durkin will work alongside co-founder and CEO Hamish Brocklebank and co-founder Uri Grodzinski. Portent.IO is currently working with two studios across the marketing of both theatrical and home entertainment properties. He was formerly the SVP of Marketing Analytics at Warner Bros.

Niki Kazakos has been named the Unit Publicist at Chelsea (as of April 4th, 2016). She was formerly a Senior Publicist at Access Hollywood.

Kellyn Parker has been upped from Executive Producer to the VP, Partner Content at Funny or Die. Brian Toombs has been upped from Director of Strategy to the VP of Partner Content at Funny or Die.

Company Launches & Partnerships

After a competitive auction, Harper Collins will be the home of Michael Mann Books with worldwide rights to multiple books in a multi-million-dollar deal. Harper Collins executive editor David Highfill will edit the books under the deal. The first novel will be a collaboration between Mann and The Cartel author Don Winslow, about the complex relationship between two organized crime giants, Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana. The second will be a prequel to the film Heat.

Nielsen and Dish Network have inked a multiyear agreement to integrate Dish’s aggregated set-top-box data initially into Nielsen’s Local TV Measurement service across all 210 designated market areas. This is the first nationwide dataset to be regulated with Nielsen’s panel to provide deeper detail and demographic descriptions. Nielsen will also utilize Dish’s set-top-box data to complement many of its local and national products.

Ride Television Network and CenturyLink have signed a deal to distribute the equestrian lifestyle channel to CenturyLink customers.  Ride TV, which launched in 2014, will join the Prism Sports Plus package on April 19.

Vivendi has officially closed the deal to acquire the pay TV business of Italian media conglom Mediaset in a strategic alliance. The deal paves the way for Vivendi to create a pan-Euro free-to-air, pay TV and over-the-top platform that can compete with Netflix and Sky. Under the deal, the two companies swap 3.5% of each other’s stock, with Vivendi also acquiring control over Mediaset Premium, in which Mediaset owned 89%. Vivendi will also take over the remaining 11% owned by Spain’s Telefonica.

Australians in Film and Screen Australia has launched the inaugural Mentor LA program. The program will pair established talent with four up-and-comers in an effort to help build their careers. The first mentors are producer Bruna Papandrea (Wild); writer-director Stuart Beattie (Collateral); Game of Thrones production designer Deborah Riley; and Eden Gaha, President of Unscripted Television at Endemol Shine USA.

BBC Worldwide is increasing its stake in Baby Cow from 25% to 73%. Co-Founder Steve Coogan will take on a broader role as part of the transition. Henry Normal, Co-Founder and CEO of Baby Cow Productions will be leaving his post but will remain with Baby Cow as a consultant over the next year until the appointment of a new CEO. Coogan will head creative endeavors until a new CEO joins, and after that will continue to play a leading role in future development.

Film

After 26 years at the company, Thomas Staggs is leaving his post as COO of The Walt Disney Company to pursue other opportunities (as of May 6th, 2016). He will remain in the role of special adviser to chair/CEO Robert Iger through this fiscal year. As Staggs was expected to take over for Bob Iger, after Iger steps down in two years, the Disney board will now begin a broad search for Iger’s replacement.

Gabrielle Carteris was elected President of SAG-AFTRA by the union’s national board of directors. She has been the union’s acting president since Ken Howard’s death on March 23 and was the union’s EVP since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012, which she helped plan. Prior she was the President of AFTRA’s Los Angeles Local and was a member of SAG’s national board of directors.

Daniel Battsek will be the new Director of Film4, following David Kosse’s departure to STX Entertainment. Kosse will consult for Film4 during the transition period through fall. Battsek was previously the President of Cohen Media Group and will leave that post in July. In Battsek’s new post, he will maintain the relationships with Fox Searchlight and FP Films and seek out new partnerships.

Jenny Tartikoff has been hired as the SVP of Global Communications at Universal and will be responsible for executive communications, managing filmmaker relationships, and guiding day-to-day studio strategy. She was previously a SVP at Rubenstein in New York. Angela Emery will sign on as VP Communications for the Brand Development group. She was previously the Senior Director of Global Brand Communications at Mattel. Evan Langweiler has been promoted to VP Global Communications. He will continue to serve as the liaison with Universal Pictures International.

Elissa Federoff has been named the VP of Theatrical Distribution at The Orchard. She was previously the VP of Distribution at Radius-TWC.

Matthew Gledhill has been named the SVP of International Production at STUDIOCANAL (Paris). He was formerly the Producer at One World Films.

Eric Min has been named the Head of International Sales at XYZ Films. He was formerly the EVP of Film & TV at Aldamisa Entertainment.

Mark O’Connor has been named the EVP of Production at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. He was formerly a Senior Executive at Green Hat Films.
Christoph Pachler will be the new EVP and Chief Financial Officer at Critical Content. In his new role, Pachler will handle all financial and accounting, strategic planning and functional support areas for the company. He recently served as EVP/CFO at Playboy Enterprises.

TV

Ben Silverman is now the co-CEO of Propagate Content, alongside co-CEO Howard T. Owens. The company received an additional round of investments form A+E Networks and has partnered with Will.i.am and Apple on an unscripted series about app developers. Silverman previously founded Reveille and Electus.

Charlotte Thorp is now the SVP and Head of Television Sales for the European Market for Lionsgate UK. She was previously the SVP and Head of Film & TV Sales at eOne Film UK and eOne Television International.

Sergei Kuharsky is now the SVP Strategy and Business Development at BBC Worldwide North America. He was previously at Scripps Networks Interactive, where he served as General Manager for Food Network.

Tamaya Petteway has shifted from SVP, Brand Integrations and Partnerships to the SVP of the newly formed Brand and Licensing Partnerships Division at Endemol Shine North America. Kelly C. Hill has been named the VP of Licensing Partnerships.

Tara Long extended her time at Entertainment One Television with a new long-term deal to continue running its U.S. Alternative Programming department. Long’s credits include Fameless, David Spade’s comedy prank show for truTV, game show Race to Escape for Science Channel and the Big Surprise specials for E!.

Polly Hill has signed on to be the Head of Drama at ITV. She was previously the Head of Drama at BBC. This news comes as last week Head of Drama, Steve November left ITV after 16 years. Sue Murphy has been hired as the Commissioner for Factual Entertainment. She was previously the Managing Director at Optomen. Siobhan Greene will be the Commissioning Team’s Head of Entertainment. Angela Jain has been named the new managing director of ITV Studios Entertainment. Peter Davey has been upped to Head of Comedy.

Michelle Habel has been upped from VP to the SVP of Business & Legal Affairs at Pop. Hillary Povar has been upped from Director of Communications, Media & Talent Relations to the VP of Communications at Pop. Michael Rissetto has been upped from VP of Pricing, Strategy & Ad Sales Operations to the SVP of Ad Sales Pricing & Planning. Nicole Sabatini has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Marketing.

Mike Jackson has been named the Senior Director of International Sales & Acquisitions at Blue Ant International. He was formerly the Head of Global Sales at Banijay International.

Paul Lewis has been named the President at Great Pacific Media. He was formerly the President and General Manager at Discovery Networks Canada.

Angela Silak has been upped from Coordinator to the Manager of Original Movies at Nickelodeon.

Claire Abramowitz has been upped from Director of Development to the Executive Director of Development at The Cartel.

Mara Arakelian has been named the SVP of Talent Management at Telemundo (Miami/Mexico). She was previously the Management Director at Bobo Producciones.

Daija Arias has been named the VP of New Business Development at Z Living. She was previously the VP at NAMIC Inc.  Concha Christian has been named the VP of National Media Sales at Z Living. She was formerly the Senior Director of West Coast Media Sales at BET. Lisabeth Hayes has been named the SVP of Sales & Marketing, Central & Western Regions at Z Living. She was previously the SVP of Advertising Sales at TV One. Rudy Balderama has been named the VP of Advertising Sales, Western Region at Z Living. He was formerly the West Coast Account Director at LATCOM.

Kendra Campbell-Milburn has been named the VP of Digital at UP TV. She was previously the Executive Director of Social at TVGLA.

Kristen Campolattaro has been named the VP of Brand Marketing at Sprout. She was previously the Founder, Brandavore and an Adjunct Professor of Strategic Communications at Columbia University. Amy Friedman has been named the SVP of Programming & Development at Sprout. She was previously the Senior Advisor, Scratch and President at Redhead Consulting.

Jane Gould has been named the SVP of Consumer Insights at Disney-ABC Television Group. She was previously the SVP of Research & Insights at MTV Group. Elizabeth Sloan has been upped from VP of Research & Brand Strategy to the SVP of Consumer Insights at Disney-ABC Television Group.

Management, PR, Agencies

Brandi Brice and Dana Gergely have both been hired as Agents in the Adult Television and Film Department at The Osbrink Agency. They were both previously Casting Directors at Brice/Gergely Casting.

Will Douglas has signed on to be a Talent Manager at Grandview. He was previously a Talent Manager at Paradigm. He had a strong roster to TV clients at Paradigm and his new client roster is yet to be determined.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Peter Chernin, CEO of Chernin Entertainment and The Chernin Group, will leave Twitter’s board of directors. His term will expire at the company’s annual meeting this year. PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston and Lucky Voice Founder Martha Lane Fox were appointed to the board on April 6.

Jessica Buzzard has been named the Director of Marketing at Geffen Playhouse. She was previously the Director of Marketing at the Sundance Institute.

Deborah Henderson has been named the General Counsel and Head of Production at Insurrection Media, Inc. She was previously the General Counsel for Zodiak Americas.

Ronny Gutfreund has been named the Director of Alternative Promotion at Capitol Music Group. He was formerly the East Coast Director of Promotion at Wind-up Records in Atlanta.

Andrew Keller has been named the VP of A&R at Capitol Records. He was formerly the Director of A&R at Columbia Records.

The NCAA has extended its pact for the men’s basketball tournament with CBS and Turner for an another eight years, to run through 2032. Eight seasons remain on the original 14-year contract. The deal increases the average to $1.1 billion per season, up from more than $770 million in the current deal.

Producer Jason Henry and his Lobster Moon banner have been signed to a two-year overall deal with Charlie Ebersol and Mike Lanigan’s The Company. Henry is currently the Head of Unscripted Development at The Company. Under the exclusive deal, Henry will develop unscripted television formats under The Company shingle and continue to serve as executive producer of The Company’s CNBC series West Texas Investors Club.

Documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit has launched Scenic, a virtual reality content studio that will produce original nonfiction documentary shorts and series for VR platforms including Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift. They’ll be released via the Brooklyn-based company’s website and app and through exclusive distribution partners. Scenic plans to produce over 40 such projects over its first year, and subjects will cover arts, politics, design, science, social issues, personal stories and more.

As noted in Exec Shuffle, Vivendi has officially closed the deal to acquire the pay TV business of Italian media conglom Mediaset in a strategic alliance. The deal paves the way for Vivendi to create a pan-Euro free-to-air, pay TV and over-the-top platform that can compete with Netflix and Sky. Under the deal, the two companies swap 3.5% of each other’s stock, with Vivendi also acquiring control over Mediaset Premium, in which Mediaset owned 89%. Vivendi will also take over the remaining 11% owned by Spain’s Telefonica.

In a joint venture with Turkish advertising group Satis Ofisi, Sony Pictures Television Networks has acquired a majority stake in Turkish free-to-air network Planet TV. Planet TV has four channels: Pembe, which airs Turkish soaps and dramas; Turk, which airs local movies; cooking channel Mutfak and Cocuk, a kids channel. Under the pact Satis Ofisi will sell ads for the Planet TV portfolio. This is Sony’s first entry into the Turkish TV market.

Producer Michelle Nader has inked a new two-year pact with Warner Bros. TV. Nader is the current executive producer for 2 Broke Girls which makes its home at the studio. Under the pact, Nader will continue as executive producer/showrunner with creator Michael Patrick King for the upcoming season.  In the second year of the deal, Nader will begin shepherding new projects for Warner Bros. TV.

Distribution company Abramorama has signed a deal with Italian company Rai Com, the sales arm of Italian public network Rai, to bring the All’Opera program to domestic audiences. All’Opera is a collection of Italian opera productions, captured in HD, such as Verdi’s La Traviata as performed in opera houses in Milan, Rome, Turin and Venice.

Producer Danielle Claman Gelber has left her post as EVP and head of development for Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment to start her own production company, which will have a first-look deal with NBC. She was at Wolf Ent. for five years where she and her team developed the series Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med, as well as the current Chicago Justice pilot.

Director Antoine Fuqua has inked a multiple-year first-look television deal with The Weinstein Co. Under the deal, TWC will have first-look options with Fuqua to direct, develop or produce his next TV projects. Fuqua’s first project will be Mario Puzo’s Omerta, the final book in the author’s trilogy that started with The Godfather. A pilot will shoot this summer, although a network has not been attached as of yet. Fuqua will also executive produce the CBS’ TV adaption of Training Day, from Warner Bros. Television.

Producer Dragos Savulescu has signed a multi-picture development and financing deal with Cross Creek Pictures. Under the non-exclusive deal, Cross Creek and Savulescu will finance development for a slate of films in the $20 million to $65 million budget range. Their first project together will be on Brad Pitt’s Plan B’s film, He Wanted The Moon. Previously, Savulescu acquired Kentauros Studios in Bucharest in 2013 and teamed with Mandragora Studios to create a full-service studio in Eastern Europe.

Company Launches & Partnerships

USA Network has changed their tagline and brand image to “We the Bold”. “’We The Bold’ reflects the kind of stories we want to tell – rich, captivating stories about unlikely heroes who defy the status quo, push boundaries and are willing to risk everything for what they believe in,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.

WGA East and Vice Media have completed a tentative agreement on their first contract. Vice’s estimated 70 covered staffers will vote next week to ratify the deal. The deal includes an economic package worth 29% over three years, protections on the current health insurance offered employees, protections for employees to engage in non-Vice work, compensatory time off when employees work on days off, guaranteed severance pay and monthly meetings to discuss workplace issues.

Nylon Media is now partnered with UTA. Nylon is a beauty and pop culture content producer that targets Millennial women. In light of the deal, Jamie Elden has been named the new President and Chief Revenue Officer and will oversee all of Nylon’s operations from its offices in New York and Los Angeles. He was previously the Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Entertainment at Media General’s Federated Media.

Paul Hilepo is closing the Hatig Hilepo Agency at the end of this month. Hileopo will leverage his 25-years of experience as an agent to launch a new management company, PH Entertainment Group. Long-term clients Laverne Cox, Ken Leung Phyllis Somerville, Debbi Morgan, Samrat Chakrabarti, will also make the move. Hilepo will also develop and produce projects for his clients.

Al Jazeera America has officially closed. The network started in 2012 with the acquisition of Current TV, but suffered from low viewership and allegations of management bias against women and Israel. In a memo, President Kate O’Brian and CEO Al Antsey said of the news, “Al Jazeera America has the most talented and diverse team any media organization could wish for…We all know good journalism is critical. It ensures information is reliable, and can be trusted. Good journalism doesn’t mean opinion or spin. It is a responsibility which every media organization should carry with determination and resolve. We are proud to have done so since our first to our final moment on air.”

President Obama has officially supported the FCC’s plan to give independent manufacturers of set top boxes alternatives to cable and satellite company deals. The decision will allow Consumers to own their own set top boxes instead of lease them. Consumers now pay $20 billion to rent or lease boxes, up 185 percent 20 years ago, noted the White House, while the prices for TVs, computers and mobile phones have declined by 90 percent.

The Weather Co. is launching of a new interactive presentation tool, Max Connect, and adding virtual sets to the company’s AR solution, Max Reality. With Max Connect presenters can interact with AR elements in real time without having to turn their back to the audience, which is what tends to happen when they are using more cumbersome tools like hand tracking or a touch screen. The virtual sets can be easily integrated into a station’s existing workflow.

Film

Daniel Battsek has been named the Director at Film4 (London, as of July 2016). He was previously the President at Cohen Media Group.

Spencer Beighley has been hired as a Development Executive at Grand Electric. He was previously the Creative Executive at Appian Way.

Evan Langweiler has been upped from the Senior Director to the VP of Global Communications at Universal Pictures. Jenny Tartikoff has been named the SVP of Global Communications at Universal Pictures (as of May 2016). She was formerly the SVP of Rubenstein Communications.

Jonah Leach has been upped from Coordinator to Manager of Acquisitions & Co-Productions at Lionsgate.

Ildi Toth Davy has been named the EVP of Sales & Acquisitions at Evolutionary Films (London). Ildi was formerly the SVP of Sales & Acquisitions at Odin’s Eye.

Angela Emery has been named the VP of Communications, Brand Development at Universal Pictures. She was formerly the Senior Director of Global Brand Communications at Mattel.

Naomi Funabashi is now a Creative Executive at Mandeville Films. She was formerly a Coordinator at HeyDay Films.

Ruzanna Kegeyan has been named the EVP of Sales & Acquisitions at Arclight Films. She was formerly the President at Synchronicity Entertainment.

Mark Padilla has been upped from VP of Worldwide Sales & Distribution to the SVP of Sales & Acquisitions at Double Dutch International.

TV

Hanan Abdelaa has been named the Director of Development at 51 Minds Entertainment. She was formerly a Development Manager and Talent Executive at Endemol Shine North America. Elyse Adams has been upped from Manager of Current Programming to the Director of Current Productions at 51 Minds Entertainment. Tricia Biggio has been named the VP of Current Productions. She was formerly the Senior Director of Development & Production at VH1. Chris Kinsella has been upped from VP to the SVP of Development. Jessica Bofshever has been upped form Director of Development to the VP of Development at 51 Minds. Andrew Jacobson has been upped from Director of Development to the Head of Branded Entertainment.

Joe D’Ambrosia has been upped from VP to the SVP of Original Programming at Disney Junior.

Hugh Fitzpatrick has been named the VP of Scripted Development & Production at National Geographic Channel. He was previously the Head of Television at Teakwood Lane.

Danielle Claman Gelber has been named a Producer at Claman Gelber Productions. She was formerly the EVP and Head, Development at Wolf Entertainment.

Polly Hill has been named the Head of Drama at ITV in London. She was formerly the Controller of Drama Commissioning at BBC.

Sergei Kuharsky has been named the SVP of Strategy & Business Development at BBC Worldwide North America in New York. He was previously the General Manager of Food Network.

Gregory R. Little has been named the SVP of Content at Rainmaker Entertainment. He was previously the Executive Producer and Head of U.S. Operations at Brown Bag Films.

Jason Matthews has been named the VP of Research at GSN. He was previously the VP of Research & Audience Development at Ovation TV.

Christoph Pachler has been named the EVP, CFO at Critical Content. He was previously the EVP, CFO at Playboy Enterprises.

Blake Tohana has been named the CFO at 9 Story Media Group in Toronto. He was previously the CFO at Tricon Films & Television.

Management, PR, Agencies

Liz Rosier will be joining Rosier Artist Management as a Manager. She leaves her post as an agent at the now shuttered Hatig Hilepo Agency.

Will Douglas is now a Talent Manager at Grandview. He was previously a Talent Agent at Paradigm.
Kimberly Hines has been brought onto Abrams Artists Agency as a Theatrical Agent. She joins the bi-coastal team, based in Abrams Artists Agency’s Los Angeles headquarters. Previously, Hines started her career at CAA and worked as a Manager at 3 Arts. Her clients include Balthazar Getty, William Forsythe, Gina Gershon and Costa Ronin.

John Hossenlopp has been named the Director of Voice-Over/New Business Development at CESD in New York. He was previously the Partner of Voice-Over/Commercial Talent at Atlas Talent Agency. Nate Zeitz has been upped from Agent to the VP of Radio Imaging/TV Affiliates at CESD.

Nick Leicht has been named a Talent & Literary Manager at The Green Room. He was previously a Talent & Literary Agent at Don Buchwald & Associates.

Kevin Parker is now a Talent & Literary Manager at Principato Young Entertainment. He was previously a Producer and Talent & Literary Manager at Rain Management Group.

Sam Wick has been named the Executive of Digital Media at UTA. He was previously the EVP & General Manager, Enterprise at Maker Studios.

Andy Zumberge has been named a Concert Agent at APA. He was previously the Associate Agent of Music at The Agency Group.

Upon the news of Hatig Hilepo Agency closing, Agent Peter Sanfilippo announced he will be leaving to pursue new opportunities as an agent.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Nate Lemmerman has been named the VP of Corporate Development, Cast & Crew Entertainment Services. He was previously the VP, Wasserman Media Group.

Jorge Mejia has been upped from EVP to the President of Latin America & U.S. Latin at Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Miami).

Ty Roberts has been named the SVP, Chief Technology Officer at Universal Music Group (as of April 25th, 2016). He was previously the Chief Strategy Officer and General Manager of Music at Gracenote.

Company Launches & Partnerships

Amazon has agreed to offer its Amazon Prime customers the opportunity to buy Seeso, NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises’ $3.99 a month ad-free comedy service. NBCU SVP Ben McLean says Seeso is “the first standalone comedy offering” with “the best premium content – Original Series, stand-up specials and library video—across every screen.” Seeso will be made available in the spring.

Fullscreen will launch an ad-free subscription video on demand service for teens and young adults similar to Netflix that will cost $4.99 per month on April 26. As part of the content it will distribute a Bret Easton Ellis-directed thriller series called The Deleted and a daily sketch show, Party In The Back. AT&T will be a launch sponsor and will co-produce programming that will run on Fullscreen as well as a programming block on the AT&T Audience Network, which goes to its DirecTV and U-verse subscribers.

USA Today owner Gannett has publicly offered to acquire the owner of the LA Times, Tribune Publishing in a deal valued at $815 million. Gannett’s $12.25 a share cash offer represents an estimated 63% premium over Tribune’s $7.52 closing price on April 22. Gannett hired Methuselah Advisors to offer financial counsel, with legal advice from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. If approved, Gannett will seek to expand its USA Today Network and encourage collaboration between all of the the company’s media properties, giving them a common branding platform.

Univision has acquired the Disney-owned network’s stake in Fusion and has replaced ABC in distributing the network, and handling ad sales. As part of the deal Univision will create the Fusion Media Group, as a “multi-platform destination for the new, rising American mainstream.” The group will also include Univision’s interests in El Rey, The Root, The Onion, A.V. Club, Clickhole, Starwipe, Flama, Univision Digital and Univision Music.

Viacom has announced a deal with Dish Network and stopped any programming black-out.  The announcement also stated that “select Viacom live and Video-On-Demand content” including Comedy Central, BET, Spike, MTV, and Nick Jr. will run on the satellite company’s Sling TV streamed service. Viacom chief Philippe Dauman spoke of the renewal, saying it, “will enable Viacom to drive growth and deliver better, more engaging viewer experiences for years to come.”

Google unveiled a new Computer Science Education in Media program run by Julie Ann Crommett at Tribeca. They will partner with The Black List to offer financial grants in support of developing scripts about the changing the image of computer science and computer scientists in pop culture. Starting this fall, the Black List will grant up to $15K to three screenwriters, one feature and two episodic pilots. Writers will retain all rights to the work. Writers with scripts on The Black List site are also eligible.

Film

Jean-Julien Baronnet is now pursuing other opportunities. She was previously the CEO at Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

Peter Kang has been named the Co-President of Lionsgate alongside Bobby Cohen. He was previously the EVP of Production at Paramount Pictures. Prior to that, he was the EVP at Fox, where he oversaw the relaunch of The Planet of the Apes franchise.

David Van Dyke has been upped from VP to the President at Shade VFX. Lisa Maher has been upped from Executive Producer to the VP of Production at Shade VFX. John Riddle has shifted from Head to the VP of Technology at Shade VFX.

Alexandra Cocean has been named the SVP of International Sales at Voltage Pictures. She was previously the VP of International Sales at Lightning Entertainment.

Michael Joe has been named the COO of Motion Picture Group at STX Entertainment. He was formerly the Managing Director at Seer Capital in New York.

Tony Shaw has been named the VP at Escape Artists. He was formerly the Director of Development at Captivate Entertainment.

TV

Kurt Davis has been named CBS’ EVP of Affiliate Relations. He was previously the VP of News Services. He replaces Elizabeth Tumulty, who had led the group since December 2013. In his new role, he’ll oversee day-to-day operations for the Network affiliate relations department.

Sarah Broderick has been hired as the Chief Revenue Officer for Vice Media and will oversee the global finance division. She was previously the Chief Accounting Officer/Global Controller at WME | IMG, where she oversaw the global controllership organization and financial integration of the IMG and WME businesses.

Betsy Bergman has been named the SVP of Marketing & Brand Strategy at NBCUniversal TV Distribution in New York. She was previously the VP of Marketing at Sony Pictures Television.

Derek Chang has been upped from Managing Director, Asia-Pacific Operations to the Head, International Lifestyle Channels at Scripps Networks Interactive (London, as of July 2016).

Rob Day has been upped from EVP of Production to the EVP and Head of Unscripted Production at Endemol Shine USA.

Darren Galatt has been upped from VP of Advertising Sales to the President of Advertising Sales, Global Syndication at Entertainment Studios. Jesse Kerns has been named the SVP of Unscripted Production at Endemol Shine USA. He was formerly the SVP of Production at Relativity Television. Kirk Anderson has been upped from Executive Director of Production to the VP of Unscripted Production at Endemol Shine USA.

Annie Gerhart has been named the VP of Unscripted Programming at The Company. She was previously the Director of Program Development at Sony Pictures Television.

Andy Kemp has been named the Regional VP of Sales at Samba TV in San Francisco. He was formerly the VP of Agency Partnerships at AddThis. Serena Satyasai has been named the VP of Marketing at Samba TV. She was previously the Senior Director of Marketing at Zscaler.

Dan Matthias has been upped from Coordinator of Development to the Manager of Development at Go Go Luckey Entertainment. Bill Castonzo has been upped from VP to the SVP of Development. Frank Prather has shifted from VP of Talent Development & Casting  to the VP of Development. Breonna Carrera has been upped from Manager of Development to the Director of Development at Go Go Luckey Entertainment.

Alex Soler has been named the Director of Development at Sonar Entertainment. He was formerly the Manager of Development at Endemol Shine Studios.

Management, PR, Agencies

Jennifer Hass has been upped from Coordinator to Concert Agent at APA.

Leif Reinstein has been named Partner of Entertainment & Media Group at Reed Smith LLP. He was formerly a Partner of Entertainment Group at Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman LLP.

Tyler Reynolds has been upped from Coordinator of TV Literary to TV Agent at Equitable Stewardship for Artists.

Liz Rosier will become a Talent Manager at Rosier Artist Management (as of May 2016). She was previously a Talent Agent at Hartig Hilepo Agency in New York.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Rebecca Hershinger has been named the CFO at Genius Brands International. She was previously the Principal, CFO Advisory Services, Inc.

Tim Knapp has been named the VP of Client Engagement at PRO-TEK Vaults. He was formerly the President at Reflex Technologies, LLC.

Amy Kuessner has been named the VP of Content Acquisition at Pluto TV. She was previously the Head of Content Acquisition at BY Experience in New York.

Ethan Markovitz has been upped from Sales to the Manager of Business Development at Variety Insight. Whitney Patterson is now a Tracking Coordinator at Variety Insight. She was previously a Freelance Marketing Consultant.

Chris York has been named the Senior Director of A&R at Capitol Records. He was formerly the Director of A&R at Capitol Christian Music Group.

Company Launches & Partnerships

Comcast’s NBCU has acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. Once the acquisition is finalized, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg will become Chairman of DreamWorks New Media, a unit comprised of AwesomenessTV and the visualization technology platform NOVA. NBCU and Comcast will now be connected to DreamWorks Animation’s Netflix projects.

The video analytics firm Tubular Labs has launched Tubular Video Ratings, a new standardized metric. Tubular Video Ratings will be the first metric to rate engagement and views for video content (not ads) across YouTube, Facebook, and Vine over 100 million videos and 5 million brands and influencers.

Paramount and MCN Studio 71 have signed a multi-picture movie agreement. The first title that Paramount will release under the deal is Be Somebody, a comedy from Vine star Matthew Espinosa.

Viacom International Media Networks Asia has signed a multi-year content deal with LeEco, one of China’s major online VOD platforms. LeEco will have exclusive broadcast rights for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, marking the first time the U.S. show will air in China and OTT rights to select episodes of Nickelodeon TV series.

Rovi has acquired TiVo in a deal valued at $1.1 billion in cash and stock. Rovi CEO Tom Carson will helm the new company which will simply be called TiVo. TiVo will gain a strong research apparatus from Rovi as the tech and software company has built up a trove of valuable analytics data related to TV viewership.

China has shut down both iTunes Movies and the iBooks Store.  Apple launched both services just six months ago in China. The move comes as China seeks to promote domestic tech companies and restrict the operations of their foreign competitors.

Film

Brad Weston is stepping down from his role as President and CEO of New Regency, a position he has held for the last five years.

David Baxter has been named the Head of Content Development at Legion M. He was previously the Publisher Relations/Brand Activation Manger at Gamevice. Terri Lubaroff has been named the Head of Content Acquisition at Legion M. Terri was formerly the Chief Operating Officer at Meltdown Entertainment Group.

Mandy Beckner has been named the VP of Creative Affairs at Heyday Films. She was formerly the VP of Development at Olympus Pictures.

David S. Collins has been named the Writer, Producer at Sweeny Collins Productions. He was previously the Development Executive at Connect Entertainment.

Adam Fields has been named the Co-President of Production at Relativity. He was previously the Producer, Consultant at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Michael Glassman has been named the VP of Film at LD Entertainment. He was previously the Head of Film at Outlaw Productions.

Chet Devaskar has joined Covert Media as EVP of Business & Legal Affairs. He will focus on Covert’s film production slate and handle all above the line talent deals and financial closings for upcoming production projects. Chet joins Covert from Treehouse Pictures where he served as Head of Business Affairs and General Counsel.

Peter Kang has been named the Co-President of Production at Lionsgate. He was previously the EVP of Production at Paramount Pictures.

Lori Sinanyan will be the Chief Counsel at Relativity Media (as of May 2nd, 2016). She was formerly the Counsel at Jones Day.

Edouard de Vésinne has been named the Deputy CEO at EuropaCorp. He was previously the Co-President at EuropaCorp Television in Paris.

TV

Alex Sepiol has been upped from SVP to EVP of Scripted Development at NBCUnivesal Cable Entertainment. Michael Sluchan will now oversee content as SVP of NBCUni Cable. Sluchan was previously SVP and Head of Current for USA. Heather Olander will be the SVP of Unscripted Programming at USA Network and SyFy. In accordance with NBCUniversal Cable consolidating their scripted operations, Sepiol and his team will work across the entire portfolio, take in pitches and recommend which network would be best suited for each new project.

Jared Albert has been named the Manager of Publicity & Communications at Discovery Family Channel. He was previously the Senior Publicist at Animal Planet.

Patrice Andrews has been named the General Manager at Animal Planet (as of mid-June 2016) She was formerly the Chief Operating Officer of East Coast at ITV Studios America.

Betsy Sanner Ayala has been named the VP of Programming at HGTV, DIY Network, and Great American Country. She was formerly the VP of Programming & Production at PTA Networks.

Sharon Bordas has been named the VP of Scripted Development at Lifetime. She was formerly the EVP of Production & Development at MarVista Entertainment.

Michael Clemente has shifted from EVP of News Editorial to the EVP of News Specials at Fox News. Jay Wallace has been upped from SVP of News and Senior Executive Producer, News & Politics to the EVP of News & Editorial at Fox News.

Liza Burnett Fefferman has been named the SVP of Communications for VH1 and Logo. She will oversee all communications for VH1 and Logo’s brand and content, oversee awards efforts, and help those brands as they expand beyond reality and into scripted and documentary films. Previously she was an EVP at RADiUS in PR and involved in 40 film launches.

Kurt Davis has been upped from VP of News Services to the EVP of Affiliate Relations at CBS Television Network. Tiffany Smith-Anoa’I has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Diversity, Inclusion & Communications at CBS Entertainment.

Jackie de Crinis has been named the President at Jackie de Crinis Productions Inc. She was formerly the EVP of Original Programming at USA Network.

Les Eisner has been named the SVP of Corporate Communications at Fox Broadcasting Company. He was previously the VP of Corporate Communications at A+E Networks.

Matt Gentile has been named the Account Executive of Cable Advertising Sales at Entertainment Studios Networks. He was previously the Account Executive of Advertising Sales at ION Media Networks.

Jason Goldberg has been named the President of Non-Scripted & Alternative Programming at STX Entertainment. He was previously the Co-Founder, Partner at Katalyst.

Cristián Jofré has been named the Creative Director at Viceland International. Cristián was formerly the SVP of Marketing and Creative Director at MTV Networks International. Nick Weidenfeld has been named the President of Programming at Viceland. He was previously the Head of Development, Adult Swim and President at ADHD Studios.

Sheraton Kalouria has been upped from EVP to the President, Chief Marketing Officer at Sony Pictures Television.

Jessica Sebastian has been named the SVP of Development for ITV America’s in-house reality production banner. In her new role, she will oversee development, focusing on creating talent-driven series and innovative formats across a range of unscripted genres. She previously served as Head of Alternative Programming at USA Network.

Sharon Bordas is now the VP of Scripted Development at Lifetime. She will develop and oversee production of scripted series.  Bordas was previously the EVP, Production and Development at MarVista.

Barry Poznick has been named the President of Unscripted Television at the MGM Television Group. He will oversee the creative and development of all unscripted television content. Poznick was the Founder and Co-CEO of Zoo Prods where he co-created/executive produced the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.

Bill Hilary has resigned from his post as President of Fuse Media to pursue other opportunities. The senior staff at Fuse will now report to CEO Michael Schwimmer.

Catrice Monson has been named the SVP Diversity and Inclusion at CBS Corp. In the role she will work to expand and enhance diversity initiatives for CBS Corp. and its business units. She most recently was SVP Labor Relations, representing the CBS Television Network and the labor relations department in negotiations with entertainment unions and guilds on issues related to diversity and increasing access.

Management, PR, Agencies

Geoff Edwards, Bianca Pettinicchi, Joe Saroufim, and Erin Sullivan have been named Executives of Marketing at CAA. Edwards was previously the Co-Founder at DOJO. Bianca Pettinicchi has been named the Executive of Marketing at CAA. Pettinicchi was formerly the Director/Designer, Digital & Print Ad, TBWA/Chiat/Day. Saroufim was previously the Writer/Producer of Branded Content at 72andSunny. Saroufim was formerly the VP at Poolhouse.
Willy Villarreal has been named the VP of Brand Marketing & Communications at PMK•BNC/VOCES. He was previously the VP of Consumer Marketing & Western Region Multicultural Lead at Edelman.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Stephen Swad is now the CFO at digital media company, Vox Media. He was formerly the CEO of the language-learning software company Rosetta Stone Inc.

Jenna Goudreau has been hired as a Managing Editor at CNBC and will head strategy and execution of CNBC Make It, the network’s new site focused on money matters. She joins CNBC from Business Insider, where she served as a Deputy Editor.

AJ Mathew is now the VP of Research at Kargo, the mobile marketplace for premium brand advertising. He was previously at Apple, where he served as Global Head of Measurement & Insights for the company’s iAd platform.

Tommy Coriale has been upped to GM of DIGA. The new role grows Coriale’s current responsibilities as VP of Production to include oversight of business development and growth for DIGA. Coriale was previously at Eastern, where he oversaw production of the Love & Hip Hop franchise.
Steve Bunnell has been named the SVP, Chief Content and Programming Officer at Regal Entertainment Group, joining on June 14. He was previously at Universal Theatrical Distribution where he was EVP and General Sales Manager.

Nathan Brown has been named the SVP of Development & Operations at Discovery Digital Networks. He was previously the SVP, GM of Video at The Huffington Post in New York.

Barak Moffitt has been upped from Head of Strategic Operations to the EVP of Content Strategy & Operations at Universal Music Group.

Company Launches & Partnerships

New York-based film and media company Cinetic has launched an international sales division in a pre-Cannes Film Festival announcement. Cinetic previously focused on domestic sales but they will now be working with existing sales, management and finance teams to plan film finance and worldwide sales along with acquiring international sales rights. Jason Ishikawa will head the new division. He was previously the Senior Director of Acquisitions at The Film Sales Company.

Comcast’s FreeWheel online-video division has paid upwards of $100 million in cash to acquire French company StickyAds.tv, which provides tools and a private exchange for video publishers to sell ads programmatically. StickyAds’ goal is to help premium publishers “embrace programmatic video in a controlled and totally transparent manner.” The company’s customers include France’s TF1, Yahoo, Deezer, France Télévisions and Spiegel TV, and it claims to serve more than 7,000 websites in 150 countries worldwide.

Ellen DeGeneres has launched her own digital network. Programs will include original Damn, Daniel series for Snapchat; Ellen’s Pet Dish, an animated series featuring her pets, the return of 4-year-old viral sensation Brielle; new episodes of Dance Challenge; #MadeByYou and popular Ellen Show game Epic or Fail. She also signed a content development deal with social media star Tyler Oakley, and will collaborate on a range of original digital projects, with an aim toward developing projects for television.

Skydance Media has aquired game developer The Workshop Entertainment, Inc. which will be used to launch Skydance Interactive, LLC, a subsidiary that will create and own original video games and virtual reality experiences. Workshop gives Skydance the ability to vertically integrate its IP across film, TV and interactive platforms. The company will self-publish and digitally distribute Skydance Interactive titles for VR hardware.

UK film financier The Fyzz Facility has signed a deal with The Tea Shop & Film Company producers Mark Lane and James Harris to launch The Fyzz Facility Pictures. The team will develop existing and new IP and produce three to five feature films and television productions a year with the support of “substantial financial backing.” Under the pact, Mark Lane and James Harris will be made directors along with Fyzz’s Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones. The two companies have worked together on three films in the last 2 years, including the upcoming thriller 47 Meters Down, which will be released by the Weinstein Company.

Revolution Studios has bought a stake in Latino digital entertainment company Latin Everywhere and has licensed Spanish-dubbed versions of titles for distribution through Latin Everywhere’s OTT platform, Pongalo. Latin Everywhere will leverage Revolution’s strategic investment to expand Pongalo with an upcoming subscription VOD offering. Latin Everywhere’s library includes more than 50,000 hours of film and TV content, including telenovela Juana la Virgen, the basis for the hit U.S. television series Jane the Virgin.

Digital company Fullscreen is changing its name to Fullscreen Media and restructuring into three business units focused on creators, consumers with premium entertainment and advertisers with branded content. Fullscreen Creator Network will provide services to creators on YouTube and other platforms to develop programming, expand distribution and sell merchandise, which also includes management services and direct-to-fan technology Fullscreen Direct. Fullscreen Entertainment will comprise Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen Productions, SVOD services for Rooster Teeth and Fullscreen Live, which will produce 250 live, in-person events in 2016. The third division, Fullscreen Brandworks will consist of a team of content creators and marketing experts that create branded social content and a media network.

Film

Kim Dong-ho has been appointed chairman of the Busan International Film Festival. His role will be to ensure the festival runs smoothly this year, October 6-15. His wider role may be to try to end the conflict over artistic independence that has been going on for upwards of 18 months between festival organizers and the city authorities. Kim, who was one of the festival’s supporters at its start 20 years ago, is currently an honorary executive director.

Matt Alvarez has been named the President of Production at Broad Green Pictures. He has producer credits on Straight Outta Compton and Ride Along.  In his new position, Alvarez will be responsible for identifying new projects and handle Broad Green’s slate of films. He will continue his role as producer on films he has in active development at the studio.

Jeff Annison is now the Co-Founder/President of Legion M. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer at Underground Labs, Inc. Paul Scanlan is now the Co-founder/Chief Executive Officer at Legion M. He was previously the Co-Founder/President at MobiT, Inc.

Kyle Bellinger has been upped from Development Executive to Executive Director of Acquisitions & Development at Foresight Unlimited. Talia Goldman is now the Executive Director of Operations & Distribution at Foresight Unlimited. She was formerly the Director of International Sales at IM Global.

Paul Davidson has been upped from SVP to EVP of Film & Television at The Orchard.

Chet Devaskar is now the EVP of Business & Legal Affairs at Covert Media. He was previously the Head, Business Affairs and General Counsel at Treehouse Pictures.

Jamie Stevens is now the EVP of Worldwide Consumer Products, Motion Picture Group at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He was previously the EVP of Global Retail Marketing & Development at NBCUniversal.

Adam Walker has been upped from Head Publicist of Premieres Program to Director, Publicity at Film Forum in New York.

Ana Garanito will now be the Head of Development at Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures. In her new role she will spearhead scripted film and TV development for the company, which is looking to ramp up its efforts in the arena. She recently worked at Runaway Fridge Productions and FremantleMedia International.

TV

Sean McDonough has been hired as a new color commentator for ESPN in a move to replace Mike Tirico, who is leaving the Worldwide Leader to join NBC Sports. Since 2000, McDonough has worked for ESPN on the World Series, NCAA Final Four and the Olympic Games along with college football, college basketball and Major League Baseball. He has also called NFL games for ESPN Radio since 2013.

Jill Ratner has been upped from SVP to EVP of Litigation at Fox Entertainment Group.

Jonathan Bluman is now the VP of Talent & Casting at ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. He was previously a Talent Agent at WME. Ayo Davis is now the Head of Talent & Casting at ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios after being the Interim Head of Casting.

Tommy Coriale has been upped from VP of Production to General Manager at DiGa in New York.

Daniel Eilemberg has bene upped from Chief Digital Officer and SVP, Digital to President, Chief Content Officer at FUSION. Boris Gartner has been upped from SVP, Chief Strategy Officer to President, Chief Operating Officer.

Perla Farias is now the SVP of Scripted Development at Telemundo Studios. She was formerly the VP of Novela Development at Telemundo Network in Miami. Carmen Urbaneja has been upped from VP, Novela Production to SVP of Scripted Productions at Telemundo Studios.

Liza Burnett Fefferman is now the SVP of Communications at VH1 and Logo (New York, as of May 2nd, 2016). She was formerly the EVP of Publicity at RADiUS in New York.

Bill Hilary is now pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the President at Fuse Media. Felipe Holguin is now the Co-President, Chief Operating Officer at Fusion Media Group. He was previously the EVP of Digital & News Operations at Univision Communications Inc.  Camila Jimenez Villa is now the Co-President, Chief Content Officer at Fusion Media Group. She was formerly the VP of CEO Projects & Analytics at Univision Communications Inc.

Julie Pifher is now the VP of Development at Rive Gauche Television. She was formerly the Director of Development at Workaholic Productions.

Barry Poznick is now the President of Unscripted Television at MGM Television. He was previously the Founder, Chief Executive Officer at Barracuda Productions.

Mia Rondinella is now the SVP of Global Distribution & Strategy at Disney Media Distribution and Disney & ESPN Media Networks. She was formerly the VP of Consumer Data & Analytics at Disney-ABC Television Group.

Sheri Salata is launching an unnamed brand innovation agency. She was formerly the Co-President, Management Partner at OWN. Erik Logan, will now serve as sole president of OWN.

Joseph Schneier has been uppe from Senior Director to VP of Production & Development at Discovery Channel.

Jessica Sebastian is now the SVP of Development at ITV Entertainment. She was formerly the Head of Alternative Programming at USA Network.

Paul Shapiro is pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the SVP of Original Content at Syfy. Erik Storey is also currently pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the SVP of Original Programming at Syfy.

Daniel Tibbets is now the President, General Manager at El Rey Network. He was previously the Chief Content Officer at Machinima.

Andrew Wang is now the Head of Television Development & Production at JuVee Productions. He was previously the VP and Head of Scripted Television Development & Production at Bravo Media.

Jimmy Zasowski has been upped from Senior Director of Affiliate Sales to VP of Business Strategy at Disney & ESPN Media Networks in New York.

Jonathan Schwartz has been upped from EVP of General Counsel & Head, Government Relations and Secretary to Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer at Univision Communications Inc. in New York.

Jacqueline Parkes will be the EVP of Marketing and Creative at MTV in a move to replace longtime MTV marketing chief Tina Exharos, who left the company at the end of last year. Eli Lehrer will be the new EVP overseeing MTV2 and will succeed Chris McCarthy, who was named GM of VH1. Parkes was previously the Chief of Marketing at the MLB while Lehrer was Lifetime’s SVP and Head of Non-Scripted Programming. Kristin Frank, formerly EVP of Connected Content for MTV and VH1, will now be the EVP of Strategy, Revenue & Operations. Erik Flannigan, previously the EVP at Viacom’s Music & Entertainment Group, will now be the EVP of Music/Events Strategy & Development.

Management, PR, Agencies

Hannah Ozer is now a Literary Manager at Kaplan/Perrone. She was formerly the Director of Development at Mad Chance Productions.

George Heller is now a Literary Manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners. He was previously a Literary Manager at Apostle Management.

Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.

Eric Legendre and Celine Rotterman have been upped to Co-Managing Directors of International Advertising & Strategic Partnerships at Variety. While at Variety Legendre has planned key events at some festivals and markets, including Cannes, MIP-TV and the Annecy Animation Festival. Rotterman, based in London, has supervised sales across Variety’s platforms for Germany, Central Europe, U.K. Television, Turkey, Russia and the CIS.

Maria Valero is now the VP of Business Affairs at Condé Nast Entertainment in New York. She was formerly the VP of Business Affairs & Content at Audible.

Jesse Goodwin is now the VP of Music Supervision at The Hit House. He was previously the Music Supervisor at Seismic Productions,

Patrick Davenport is now the Chief Operating Officer, USA at MPC Advertising (New York/Los Angeles). He was previously the Managing Director at Co3 & Method Studios.