Former Mattel, Fullscreen and 20th Century Fox
executive Damon Berger named to
newly created role of Chief Marketing
Officer
Stephanie Betts
appointed Chief Content Officer
Deirdre Brennan appointed Chief Operating
Officer
HALIFAX, NS, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - WildBrain Ltd.
("WildBrain" or the "Company") (TSX: WILD), a global
leader in kids' and family entertainment, announces that
Damon Berger has joined the company
in the newly created position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO),
Stephanie Betts has been promoted to
Chief Content Officer (CCO) and Deirdre
Brennan has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer
(COO).
Damon
Berger, CMO
In the role of CMO, Berger will drive new business and revenue
through opportunities in media sales, social commerce and digital
marketing. He will be developing best-in-class partnerships and
client services that leverage WildBrain's extensive portfolio of
capabilities, assets and IP, as well as the Company's international
leadership position in the kids' and family entertainment
space.
With an initial focus on harnessing WildBrain Spark's massive
global audience on YouTube and YouTube Kids, Berger will build and
lead an international team of digital marketing specialists,
working with groups across the global WildBrain organization to
identify and exploit new commercial opportunities in the
consumer-facing digital space. Prior to joining WildBrain, Berger
held executive positions in marketing and business development at
Mattel, Fullscreen, What's Trending and 20th Century Fox,
specializing in building digital-first organizations, in addition
to creating high-value partnerships with some of the biggest
companies in the entertainment and technology spaces. He
reports to WildBrain CEO, Eric
Ellenbogen.
In her elevated role as CCO, Betts is responsible for overseeing
WildBrain's content slate, cultivating an artist-led culture of
creativity and talent in both animation and live-action production
at WildBrain Studios. As CCO, she will focus on creative excellence
across development, production and studio operations, drawing on
her considerable experience in launching such notable
WildBrain series as Snoopy in Space; The Snoopy Show;
Strawberry Shortcake's Berry in the Big City; Go, Dog.
Go!; Chip & Potato; Degrassi and many more.
Betts reports to WildBrain President, Josh
Scherba.
Also reporting to Scherba, Brennan takes on an expanded remit to
integrate the Company's leading AVOD network, WildBrain Spark, into
her existing portfolio of content and distribution operations
across WildBrain's global organization. In her role of COO, Brennan
will continue her oversight of the Company's Distribution and
Television businesses and align the WildBrain Spark business within
this portfolio, extending continuity for WildBrain's holistic
content strategy across the group.
Ellenbogen said: "We have made great strides in the last two
years aligning all the parts of our business to respond to the
opportunities in the evolving media landscape. These executive
appointments build on those successes, with Damon joining the team
to push into new opportunities and emerging revenue streams in the
advertising and direct-to-consumer space; Stephanie bringing her
passion for creative excellence to an expanded role at our studio;
and Deirdre continuing the important work she's done integrating
our content and distribution operations. There are exciting times
ahead for our audiences and investors as we continue to
activate our incredible vault of IP."
Due to this management realignment, the role of Managing
Director at WildBrain Spark will no longer exist and, as a result,
Jon Gisby will be leaving the
Company.
Ellenbogen continued: "We are grateful to Jon for his passion
and commitment. Under his leadership WildBrain Spark became a
leading global distributor of premium kids' content with
gold-standard capabilities in content creation, ad sales, data
science and digital brand building. Now is the right time to
further integrate these capabilities across the group, and all of
Jon's colleagues join me in wishing him the best.
About Damon Berger
Damon Berger is a senior digital
media executive with a proven track record of success across
Fortune 500 companies and startups. At Mattel, Berger was Vice
President, Head of Digital Engagement, overseeing social and video
platforms and the creation of short-form entertainment for toys,
dolls, action figures and games. He was also responsible for
digital influencer relationships and content for Mattel's
brands.
At Fullscreen, Berger served as Vice President of Global
Strategic Partnerships, responsible for developing cross-divisional
teams to drive large-scale, high-revenue enterprise partnerships
with Fortune 500 companies. He spearheaded and closed the largest
third-party partnership in Fullscreen's history. He also served as
Vice President of Business Development and managed relationships
with social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat;
created new business initiatives including shoppable videos and
virtual reality; and expanded the reach of Fullscreen through
international media partnerships.
Berger was also founding CEO of What's Trending, a primetime
Emmy-nominated news network on YouTube covering trending videos and
personalities, where he forged partnerships with major platforms
including YouTube, HLN, Yahoo! and Virgin America.
At 20th Century Fox, he was Director of Digital Marketing where
he created and implemented the digital marketing strategy and
domestic campaigns for major motion picture releases and executed
award-winning content, new technology and media partnerships in
support of 20th Century Fox movies.
For more information, please contact:
Media: Shaun Smith - Director,
Corporate & Trade Communications, WildBrain
shaun.smith@wildbrain.com
+1 416-977-7230
Investor Relations: Nancy Chan-Palmateer - Director,
Investor Relations, WildBrain
nancy.chanpalmateer@wildbrain.com
+1 416-977-7358
About WildBrain
At WildBrain we inspire imaginations to run wild, engaging kids
and families everywhere with great content across all media. With
approximately 13,000 half-hours of filmed entertainment in our
library – one of the world's most extensive – we are home to such
brands as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry
Shortcake, Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test and Degrassi. At our
75,000-square-foot state-of-the-art animation studio in
Vancouver, BC, we produce such
fan-favourite series as The Snoopy Show, Snoopy in
Space, Chip & Potato, Carmen Sandiego, Go, Dog. Go! and more. Our
shows are enjoyed worldwide in more than 150 countries on over 500
streaming platforms and telecasters, and our AVOD business –
WildBrain Spark – offers one of the largest networks of kids'
channels on YouTube, garnering billions of views per month from
over 150 million subscribers. We also license consumer products and
location-based entertainment in every major territory for our own
properties as well as for our clients and content partners. Our
television group owns and operates four family entertainment
channels that are among the most viewed in Canada. WildBrain is headquartered in
Canada with offices worldwide and
trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Please visit us
at wildbrain.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" under
applicable securities laws with respect to the Company including,
without limitation, statements regarding executive appointments at
WildBrain and expected benefits therefrom, the markets and
industries in which the Company operates, and the business
strategies and operational activities of the Company and its
subsidiaries. Although the Company believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such
statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on
information currently available to the Company. Actual results or
events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results or events to differ materially from current expectations,
among other things, include the ability of the Company to execute
on its business strategies and opportunities, market factors,
consumer and customer preferences, epidemics, pandemics or other
public health crises, including the current outbreak of COVID-19,
the magnitude and length of economic disruption as a result of the
worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, and risk factors discussed in
materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities
from time to time including matters discussed under "Risk Factors"
in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and annual
Management Discussion and Analysis. These forward-looking
statements are made as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes
no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or
circumstances, except as required by law.
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SOURCE WildBrain Ltd.