As another month of the autumn season passes, so do another string of official announcements and press notes regarding the updated status of licensing and on-air production divisions of notable animation production or distribution companies. From Nickelodeon to Hasbro and Discovery, from MARVEL to Chorion, corporate promotions or well-anticipated hirings were abound in November 2009 for companies whose primary or similarly important creative interests lay in television or home video animation or comics markets.
First up, is mention of Nickelodeon promoting of its most experienced and vested personnel, Richard Barry, to the position of Vice President and Director of On-Air Creative. A veteran of the children's programming empire for an astounding nineteen years, Barry has no doubt played a key role in the visual look and feel of the Network and it's other on-air counterparts over the years. His contributions relating to television branding, packaging, and on-air promotions have come in high demand as of late, with Nickelodeon reinventing their logo for the first time in decades. Previously the VP of On-Air, Barry will have an expanded role in overseeing all Nickelodeon channel branding worldwide.
MARVEL Studios, the Hollywood subsidiary of MARVEL Entertainment, Inc., will also be witnessing a key promotion likely to affect the range of authority among its executive staff. Louis D'Esposito, now Co-President of MARVEL Studios, will hold responsibility for overseeing the production schedule of all theatrical productions from said studio. MARVEL Studios is responsible for a number of key comic-to-film adaptations, such as Iron Man (2008) and its sequel, and in the coming years, Thor (2011) and The First Avenger: Captain America (2011). D'Esposito previously served as the president of Physical Production, overseeing individual production-to-release timelines. In his new post, he joins Kevin Feige, President of MARVEL Studios.
CJ Lee joins the Cookie Jar Group (Strawberry Shortcake) as the organization's new Vice President of Distribution. The role, which encompasses Cookie Jar's presence on a global scale, will seek to angle Cookie Jar Group properties into new territories; the appointment of Lee is one component of the company's attempt to nudge its way into South Korea, for example. Lee's work will focus on the production and development opportunities available through the company's existing or anticipated licensing agreements; his regions of emphasis will be South Korea and throughout Asia. CJ Lee will report to Hideki Kunugiyama, Managing Director of CPLG Asia/Pacific.
Chorion (The Octonauts) meanwhile makes an addition to their Packaged Goods and Promotions division, bringing on board a businesswoman a great deal of consumer products experience. Rachel Bader will be joining the company's executive team as the Licensing Director of Packaged Goods and Promotions. Having recently worked for Scholastic Media in a similar position, Bader now focuses on products for the Americas, expanding revenue streams available in said territories.
Lastly, the folks working on the Hasbro-Discovery cable programming venture, scheduled to officially launch next fall, continue to rotate in new producers and officers to stabilize both the network as well as its related production hub, Hasbro Studios. Kathy Samuels, previously working with CBS TV Distribution (SVP), now takes up the position of Executive Producer with Hasbro Studios. In this position, she will be responsible for shepherding many of the group's new creative efforts, across various programming genres.
Specific to the children's network: Amber Fredman-Tarshis has been appointed the Chief Marketing Officer, previously of Victoria's Secret Marketing (VP), where she works toward developing the new network's brand identity, including logo design; Dan Pimentel, named Chief Financial Officer, oversees commerce, coming to the network from Disney Stores; Brooke Goldstein is the Senior Vice President of Ad Sales, coming from a position with Mediacom Communications (Managing Partner), to provide leadership in the ad sales division; and Lorrie Copeland, perhaps most important of all, shifts over from Hasbro to the post of Senior Vice President of Consumer Insights and Research, where she will provide the contextual research for the support of production in various multi-platform efforts the network will inevitably choose to endeavor.
(Sources: WorldScreen.com; KidScreen.com; Cynopsis Media; MARVEL; Cookie Jar Group; License! Global)
Related Animation Industry News:
"Animation Industry Hiring News (October)" at AnimationInsider.net (11/2009)
"Animation Industry Hiring News (Summer)" at AnimationInsider.net (07/2009)