Company Launches & Partnerships
Univision Communications (UCI) has partnered with Verizon. Content from a variety of Univision’s programming properties will be seen on Verizon’s Go90 mobile streaming service. Go90 users will be able to access to Univision’s digital network Flama, as well as Univision News.
YouTube channel How to Make Everything has joined the MCN Collective Digital Studio. The channel has almost 32,000 YouTube subscribers.
Online ticket sales company Fandango is launching FandangoLabs, a research and development division with the target of innovating moviegoing products and services, including making the moviegoing experience a more convenient one with such items as advanced ticketing to drive theater attendance. FandangoLabs will explore avenues across location-based services, social commerce, augmented and virtual reality, interactive video, and personalization among others, with an eye on releasing products in 2016.
YouTube stars Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg as well as Dom Smales, the Managing Director and Founder of social media management agency Gleam Futures, have launched Raucous Productions, a new production studio. Raucous’s first project, called Joe and Caspar Hit the Road, well center on a European road trip taken by Lee and Sugg. BBC Worldwide is co-producing the project with Raucous.
Film
Independent film and television distributor Alchemy has named Scott Guthrie as COO, Jim Jenkins will be upped from SVP to the EVP Strategic Business Development and Mergers and Acquisitions and Norbert Hudak will be the SVP Affinity Pods & Business Development. Before Alchemy, Guthrie was the EVP of Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment and also spent 10 years with the Walt Disney Company. Jenkins previously worked at Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation’s SVP Business Development. Huak was previously the SVP of Brand Management for the Cinedigm Corp.
Teri Weiss has been named the SVP, Head of Kids/Family Development and Production in the newly created Universal Kids Productions group at Universal Pictures with the goal of searching through the studio’s IP portfolio and develop original content for all platforms, both on its own and through partnerships. Teri previously was the EVP Original Programming for the Preschool Division at Nickelodeon where she worked in various roles for 16 years.
Larry Aidem has been named the President, CEO at Fandor and Non-Executive Chairman at IconicTV. He was previously the President, CEO at IconicTV.
Olivier Courson is pursuing other opportunities. He was previously the Chairman, CEO at StudioCanal.
Anna Culp has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Motion Pictures at Imagine Entertainment.
T.J. Fixman has been hired as a Creative Consultant at Hasbro Studios. He was previously a Sr. Writer at Insomniac Games.
Robin Jones has been hired as a Development & Production Executive at Epic Pictures Group. She was formerly a Development Executive at Epicenter Management.
Josie Liang has been named the VP of Acquisitions & Development at The Solution Entertainment Group. She was formerly a Director of Acquisitions at Focus Features.
Didier Lupfer has been named the President at StudioCanal in addition to Didier’s role as President of Canal Plus.
Matt Phelps has been named the VP of Development at Ubisoft Motion Pictures. He was previously a Creative Executive at Gulfstream Pictures.
Drew Simon has been named the SVP of Production at STX Entertainment. He was previously the VP of Film at The Mark Gordon Company.
Matthew Stein has been named the VP International Film Production at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He was previously an Independent Producer.
John Partilla has benne named the replacement to Travis Reid as CEO of Screenvision and will start in May. Partilla was recently the CEO of Minneapolis ad agency Olson. Previous to that he was COO of Dentsu Network West, Global Media Sales President for Clear Channel Communications and Global Media Group President for Time Warner.
Clyde Kusatsu has been elected SAG-AFTRA’s national VP, Los Angeles, and Gabrielle Carteris has been named the EVP, Ilyssa Fradin was elected National VP, mid-sized locals and Samantha Mathis was chosen national VP, actors/performers.
Sirena Liu has been named in the newly created position of Managing Director, China for Twentieth Century Fox. She recently headed the entertainment marketing company FilMworks China, which she founded in 2010 and sold two years later to global advertising conglomerate WPP. She will be located in China and will supervise the studio’s Beijing office.
TV
Susie Fitzgerald has been named the EVP of Scripted Programming at AMC & SundanceTV. She was formerly the SVP of Scripted Development & Current Programming at AMC. Kristin Jones has been named the SVP of International Programming, Development, Acquisitions & Co-Productions at AMC. She was formerly an International Scripted Consultant at AMC. Christian Vesper has been named the SVP of International Programming, Development, Acquisitions & Co-Productions at SundanceTV. He was previously the SVP of Scripted Development & Current Programming at SundanceTV.
Ayelet Bick has been upped from Production Manager to Director of Production at Thinkfactory Media. Joanne Rubino has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Production at Thinkfactory Media.
Nick Borenstein has been upped from Director of TV Development to the VP of TV Development at Hudsun Media.
Lord Burns is pursuing other opportunities (as of January 2016). He was previously the Chairman at Channel 4.
Sebastian Dungan has been named the VP of Original Movies at Lifetime. He was previously the Founding Partner at 72 Productions.
Sarah Jane Flynn has been named the VP of Content at Paperny Entertainment. She was formerly the Sr. Director of Original Factual Content at Shaw Media.
Paul Guyardo has been named the Chief Commercial Officer at Discovery Communications. He was previously the EVP, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer at DIRECTV.
Matt Hanna has been upped from SVP to the EVP of Original Programming at Esquire Network.
Jean Dietze has been promoted from EVP to President of Affiliate Relations at NBCUniversal. Rhonda Brockmann has been promoted from SVP to the EVP of Affiliate Relations Business & Legal Affairs at NBCUniversal. Scot Chastain has been named the EVP of Affiliate Marketing & Development at NBCUniversal. He was previously the SVP of Affiliate Marketing & Development at NBC Television Network.
Rocky Collins has been named the Executive Producer at Vulcan Productions. He was previously an Executive Producer at Science Channel.
Marc Etkind has been named the General Manager at the Science Channel. He was previously the General Manager at Destination America. Rita Mullin is now pursuing other opportunities. She was formerly a General Manager at the Science Channel.
Shannon Jamieson Driver has been named the SVP of Network Marketing & Creative Services at Scripps Networks Interactive. She was formerly the SVP of Marketing & Creative Services at HGTV, DIY Network & Great American Country. Gabriel Gordon has been named the VP of Network Research at Scripps Networks Interactive. She was formerly the VP of Brand Research & Strategic Insights at Food Network & Cooking Channel. Freddy James has been named the SVP of Network Integrated Programming, he was previously the SVP of Strategic Planning & Program Integration at HGTV, DIY Network & Great American Country.
Lindsey Liberatore has been named the VP of Development at TriStar Television. She was formerly the Head of Television at Silent Machine Entertainment.
Katie O’Connell Marsh is currently pursuing other opportunities. She was formerly the CEO at Gaumont International Television.
Shane Murphy has been named the Managing Director at Acorn Media Enterprises. He was previously a Co-Production Consultant at Deadpan Pictures and RTE Television.
Sabrina Padwa has been named the SVP of Business Affairs at ABC Family. She was formerly the VP of Business Affairs at ABC Studios.
Lauren Hurvitz has been named the EVP of Chief Communications and Corporate Marketing Officer at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. She was formerly the Global Chief Communications & Brand Marketing Officer at Starcom Mediavest Group.
Tim Krubsack has been named the EVP and Head of Programming at Z Living. He was previously the SVP of Alternative Programming at Syfy. Rafe Oller has been named the General Manager at Z Living. He was previously the SVP, Marketing at NUVOtv.
Jane Latman has been named the General Manager at Destination America in addition to her role as SVP of Development, Investigation Discovery.
Sonar Board Member Thomas Lesinski has been named the Interim CEO at Sonar Entertainment.
Riley Robbins has been named the VP of Development at Back Roads Entertainment. He was previously the VP of Development at M2 Pictures.
Andres Santos has been named the Sales Manager of International at Televisa USA. He was previously the VP of Sales at Dori Media America.
Anand Shah has been named the VP of Comedy Development at 20th Century Fox Television. He was previously the VP of Development at Red Hour Films. Reena Singh has been named the VP of Current Programming at 20th Century Fox Television. She was formerly the VP of Original Scripted Programming at USA Network.
Gene Stein has been named the President at Gaumont Television U.S. He was previously the CEO at Sonar Entertainment.
Stephen Friedman is leaving his position at President of MTV. He had been at the company for 18-years and had oversaw the Viacom network since 2008. Sean Atkins has been named the President at MTV and will report to Doug Herzog, President of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group. Atkins will handle all creative and business operations for MTV and sister networks MTV2 and mtvU. Prior he was the General Manager and EVP of Digital Media and Strategy at Discover Communications.
Diego Suarez has been named the SVP of International Television Production at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He was previously the SVP of Creative Affairs at Fox 21 Television Studios.
Ben Tappan has been named the VP of Scripted Programming at EPIX. He was previously the SVP of Television at Landscape Entertainment.
Marcus Wolter has been named the Chairman of Northern Europe at Endemol Shine Group in addition to his title as CEO at Endemol Shine Germany.
Rob Lee has been named the President of Non-Scripted Programming at Keshet Studios, the recently launched LA-based subsidiary of Keshet International. In his new role he will develop, grow and establish the company’s non-scripted and alternative programming slate, both through adapting KI’s original premium non-scripted formats as well as developing original projects for the U.S. market and beyond. He previously produced Millionaire Matchmaker, Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew, among others through his Bayonne Entertainment and Elephant Walk Elephant production banners.
Management, PR, Agencies
Merideth Bajana has been promoted to Lit Manager at Grandview/Automatik. She was formerly an Assistant to Matt Rosen at Grandview/Automatik.
Megan Brown has been upped from an Agent in Branded Lifestyle to the VP of Branding & Digital at APA. Nathan DeRemer has been hired as a Coordinator, TV Literary at APA. She was formerly an Executive Assistant to Lee Dinstman at APA.
Sherry Gaier has been named a Talent Manager at The Green Room. She was formerly a Personal Talent Manager.
Kaitlyn Flynn has been hired as a Talent & Lit Agent at Don Buchwald & Associates. She was formerly an Assistant at Principato-Young Entertainment.
Garrett Greer has been hired as a Lit Manager at Rain Management Group. He was previously an Assistant to Mina Lefevre at MTV.
Ben Izzo has been upped from Lit Coordinator to Lit Agent at Abrams Artists.
Dave Kaplan has been hired as an Agent, Music at Paradigm. He was previously the SVP at The Agency Group.
Shawn McDonald has been hired as a Talent Manager at Optimism Entertainment. He was previously an Agent, TV Talent at WME.
Maximilian Ulanoff has been hired as an Agent of Digital & Branded Lifestyle at Don Buchwald & Associates. He was previously a Sales Executive at The Joester Loria Group.
Music, Digital, Publishing, Misc.
Shelley Zimmerman has been named the Head of Scripted Series in a newly created role for Multi-platform production company and MCN AwesomessnessTV. She was previously the SVP of Scripted Programming at Warner Horizon.
Jack Dorsey has been named the permanent CEO of Twitter and will drop his Chairman title. He had served as interim CEO since July, when Dick Costolo said he would step down, and as chairman since Oct. 2008.
Nicola Levy has been named the Global Head of Business Affairs, Digital at Universal Music Group. She was formerly the Head of Business Affairs, Digital at Universal Music Group International.
Stuart J. Epstein is now the Co-Managing Partner of Evolution Media Capital. He was previously the CFO of NBCUniversal.
Irene Manahan is now the Sr. Research Consultant of MFour. She was formerly the Sr. Research Manager at Ipsos.
Patricia Burns has been upped from Supervising Producer to the Sr. Director of Production and Supervising Producer at Spin Master Entertainment. Courtney Sanford has been upped from Producer to the Director of SpindoTV at Spin Master Entertainment.
Ben Smith has been named the SVP, Head of Experience at Hulu. He was previously the Head of Product Management at Sonos.
