November 20, 2023
Who are the 40 most important people in streaming, which has fast become the dominant delivery mechanism for home entertainment?
We first asked that question a year ago. And, after an extensive screening process that began with a call for nominations, a blue-ribbon committee of Media Play News editors and prominent industry insiders whittled down the list of nominees and came up with the final 40.
Our second annual list has quite a few new names, including Amy Reinhard, who is leading Netflix’s push into the ad-supported streaming segment, and Marcien Jenckes, who heads up the Xumo streaming joint venture formed late last year by Comcast and Charter Communications, the two biggest U.S. cable operators. There are also several prominent drop-offs, including Reed Hastings, who effectively retired from Netflix at the start of the year, and Michael Paull, who in April 2023 was replaced by Joe Earley as head of streaming for Disney Entertainment.
We employed the same process this year. And, once again, we want to make it clear to our readers that our definition of “important” is subjective. If we relied solely on revenue and subscriber counts, our honorees would be made up entirely of executives from Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and the other major streamers. Leaning into the dictionary definition of “important” as “of great significance or consequence,” we also chose to factor in various other attributes, including innovation and creativity, enabling technologies and services, and diversity and inclusion.
The list is not perfect, nor is it complete. It could easily be expanded to 50, 100, even more. But one thing is certain: These 40 executives are key players in the streaming business, which continues to dominate home entertainment and, with two super-charged variants — AVOD and FAST — shows no signs of slowing.
Please join us in congratulating the 40 most important people in streaming, class of 2023! This year’s individual profiles are in alphabetical order.
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Lauren Anderson
Head, AVOD Originals, Unscripted, and Targeted Programming, Amazon Studios
Anderson oversees all programming, including creative development, production, licensing, scheduling, research, and strategy for Amazon Freevee and Prime Video’s ad-supported FAST linear channels. She also recently assumed responsibility for the unscripted programming strategy across all of Studios, including SVOD and AVOD programming. Anderson joined Amazon Studios in 2019 as the Head of Strategic Content, managing such series as the “Savage X Fenty Show” for Prime Video. In 2020, she became co-head of content and programming for IMDb TV (now Freevee). Early accomplishments for Freevee included bringing the iconic Judge Judy Sheindlin to a streaming audience, shepherding Amazon’s first partnership with Dick Wolf and developing the AVOD spinoff of Prime Video’s longest-running series, “Bosch.” Before joining Amazon, Anderson was chief content officer for Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, the joint venture studio between NBCUniversal and Snapchat. There, she helped launch Snap Originals on the Discover platform, making key contributions to the inaugural slate of programming.
Bela Bajaria
Chief Content Officer, Netflix
When she took over Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ old job in January 2023, Fortune magazine promptly declared that Bajaria “just became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.” Fresh off a three-year stint as Netflix’s head of global TV, Bajaria now is the leading streamer’s top content executive, and is learning full well the meaning behind the old showbiz saying, “You’re only as good as your last hit.” The pressure to keep coming up with compelling, watchable content without breaking the bank is immense, and Bajaria is leaning heavily into her TV background, where the quest for hit shows, and high ratings, is constant. Bajaria is looking to meld English-language content and non-English content departments into a unified global team. Prior to joining Netflix in 2016 as head of unscripted programming, Bajaria spent nearly five years as president of Universal Television, the first woman of color to oversee a studio. Earlier, she was SVP of cable programming for CBS TV Studios, and SVP of movies and miniseries for the CBS Network.
Alisa Bowen
President, Disney+, Disney Entertainment
Bowen is charged with scheduling content and driving subscriber and revenue growth for Disney+. She also oversees business operations across Disney+ and Hulu, working closely with Disney Entertainment streaming head Joe Earley. Bowen was named president of Disney+ in September 2022, after heading business operations for Disney Streaming since February 2019. In that role she oversaw global content and business operations for the company’s direct-to-consumer video streaming businesses: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+. This included cross-functional leadership of Disney+’s global November 2019 launch in 154 markets worldwide. Bowen joined Disney in 2017 as CTO of the company’s international operations, where she led a transformation of Disney’s broadcast channels and content operations and digital publishing across EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Prior to joining Disney, Bowen held product, digital technology, and general management leadership positions at such major media organizations as Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones and News Corp., in London, New York and Sydney.
Kathryn Busby & Alison Hoffman
President, Original Programming, Starz
President, Domestic Networks, Starz
Busby and Hoffman are responsible for spearheading the Starz streaming platform’s diverse programming committed to narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences. Prior to joining Starz in January 2022, Busby was EVP of Sony’s TriStar Television, where she developed and oversaw such projects as “The Afterparty,” starring Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson; a “Malcolm X” series based on the novels X: A Novel and The Awakening of Malcolm X from his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz; and a series based on Kirstin Chen’s crime novel Counterfeit. Busby also served as SVP of development for Sony Pictures Networks, where she developed and produced numerous projects, including “Absentia” — the critically hailed series that aired on Prime Video for three seasons. Hoffman has revenue and operational responsibility for Starz’s retail and wholesale businesses, and oversees key network operations, including distribution, marketing, publicity, product development, analytics and program planning. Hoffman was one of the key executives responsible for launching the Starz app and manages the network’s direct-to-consumer business. She reorganized the business and built performance marketing and analytics departments from the ground up. Additionally, Hoffman works closely with wholesale partners, including Prime Video, Hulu, Roku and Apple, to drive revenue on their platforms.
Kelly Campbell
President, Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal
Campbell is responsible for growing and elevating NBCUniversal’s streaming business and spearheading strategy. She oversees teams across programming, marketing, product, technology, partnerships, and data sciences that together support NBCU’s direct-to-consumer portfolio. A notable strategy this year involves incorporating Bravo programming, including “Vanderpump Rules,” onto the Peacock service, and offering extended episodes of the show the next day on the streamer. “We’re really establishing a home for the fandom on Peacock,” Campbell said in June at a press interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Prior to joining Peacock in October 2021, Campbell was president of Hulu, where she led the SVOD and live-TV streaming businesses. This followed a role as Hulu’s chief marketing officer, where she led the brand’s overall marketing and drove the strategic vision and voice behind the Hulu brand. Before joining Hulu in August 2017, Campbell spent more than a decade at Google in marketing leadership roles across the Google Ads and Google Cloud businesses.
Albert Cheng
VP, Prime Video U.S.
Cheng is the top executive at Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service in the United States. He leads Prime Video’s tentpole programming strategy and consumer insights, in addition to overseeing the platform’s brand strategy, social influencer marketing, marketing operations, media and audience insights. Cheng is also responsible for customer acquisition, retention and engagement across SVOD, AVOD and Marketplace. Prior to assuming his present position in September 2022, Cheng served for seven years as COO at Amazon Studios. Prior to joining Amazon, Cheng spent 15 years as an executive with The Walt Disney Co., including stints as EVP of digital media and chief product officer for the Disney/ABC Television Group. During that time, Cheng and his team won four Primetime Emmy Awards, and were the first to put TV episodes on Apple iTunes in 2005, stream broadcast shows online in 2006, stream in HD in 2007, launch an iPad app in 2010, and offer live broadcast network feeds in 2013.
Dan Cohen
Chief Content Licensing Officer, Paramount Global
Cohen is charged with monetizing a large and growing portfolio of original content that airs or streams on the CBS Television Network, The CW, Paramount+ and Showtime, as well as programming from Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television Studios, CBS Studios, CBS News, CBS Media Ventures, the MTV Entertainment Studios, Nickelodeon, VIS, Miramax and third-party partners. He also oversees worldwide home entertainment. Cohen assumed leadership of the division following his role as president of global content licensing for what was then ViacomCBS. Previously, he was president of worldwide home entertainment and television distribution for Paramount Pictures. Prior to joining Paramount in 2017, Cohen spent 20 years at Disney/ABC, most recently as EVP of pay-television and digital sales for home entertainment and television distribution for the Walt Disney Studios. Cohen was also responsible for securing two of the most significant pay-television deals in history — Netflix in 2012 and Starz in 1999 — negotiating exclusive, multiyear deals and licensing agreements.
Charlie Collier
President, Roku Media
Collier joined Roku in October 2022, and continues to rejigger the CE manufacturer/AVOD/FAST content distributor. Collier recently promoted Alison Levin to VP of global media revenue, and Kristina Shepard to VP of global advertising sales and partnerships. He also expanded David Eilenberg’s responsibilities to include overseeing original content such as the “This Old House” DIY franchise, and appointed Joe Franzetta to oversee Roku’s foray into sports. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of media experience, Collier’s career began in advertising sales and evolved into programming, strategy and digital. Prior to joining Roku, Collier served as CEO of Fox Entertainment, where he was responsible for entertainment and business strategy. Prior to joining Fox, Collier was president and GM of AMC Networks, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, overseeing the creative and business operations of all three divisions and launching such award-winning series as “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.” Collier previously held leadership and sales roles at Court TV, Oxygen Media, A+E Networks and TeleRep.
Kelly Day
VP, International, Prime Video
Day leads Prime Video’s SVOD, TVOD, and Channels businesses in all locales outside the United States. Overseeing a team of regional and country managers around the world, Day drives the content strategies, greenlights, and launches of Amazon Original movies and series internationally. Prior to joining Amazon in 2022 Day served as president of streaming for ViacomCBS Networks International (now Paramount Global), where she was responsible for the international rollout and growth of Paramount+ and Pluto. Before that, she served as chief operating officer for ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), overseeing strategy and operations, business and legal affairs, finance and business intelligence, ad sales, and location-based entertainment and events across 100+ markets. Day’s previous roles include president of Viacom Digital Studios (VDS), chief digital officer, and then chief business officer of AwesomenessTV; CEO of venture-backed Blip Networks, which she later sold to Maker Studios, one of the top YouTube Multichannel Networks; and various roles at Discovery Communications, The Knot and AOL.
Cameron Douglas
SVP of OTT/Streaming, Fandango Media
Douglas was promoted into his current position in August 2023 and is charged with future enhancements to Fandango’s growing streaming portfolio. As he did in his previous role, VP of home entertainment, Douglas also oversees the movie-ticketing company’s digital retail operation, Vudu. A Stanford University graduate, Douglas began his career holding various analytics and marketing roles at Disney, Fox, DreamWorks and Paramount. He moved into the digital entertainment space in 2013 as SVP of content for M-GO, which three years later was acquired by Fandango and rebranded FandangoNow. In 2020 Fandango bought Walmart’s digital movie service, Vudu, and merged it with FandangoNow. Since then, Vudu has become the No. 3 player in the competitive transactional space as well as a growing contender in the AVOD arena. In 2018, Douglas was elected chairman of OTT.X, the trade group for the streaming industry.
Andrea Downing
President, PBS Distribution
Downing brought PBS Distribution into the streaming era — with enviable results. Over the past seven years, she and her team have launched six subscription streaming channels on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels; brought to market five FAST channels, including “Julia Child,” “PBS Antiques Roadshow,” “Arthur” and “PBS Food”; and struck AVOD deals with several major streaming platforms, among them Roku, Pluto TV and YouTube. When PBS Distribution was established in 2009 as a joint venture between PBS and GBH, the bulk of its revenue came from DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales. Today, Downing maintains, more than 90% of revenue comes from streaming. Even before streaming’s fast rise during the pandemic, Downing was partial to multi-platform releases with big PBS titles, including Ken Burns documentaries, available the same day on disc, through digital retailers and on streaming channels. “It has always been critical for us to anticipate and evolve with the market, so we can meet viewers where they are, regardless of platform,” she says.
Joe Earley
President, Direct-to-Consumer, Disney Entertainment
Earley replaced Michael Paull as head of streaming for Disney Entertainment in April 2023, less than two years after he was named president of Hulu, a role he retains. Challenges lie ahead: Disney+ has been losing subscribers, particularly in India, while Disney’s attempt to buy out Comcast’s minority stake in Hulu remains uncertain. Earley joined Disney in January 2019 to help guide the launch of Disney+, which went live in November of that year. As EVP of marketing and operations, he was responsible for global brand, acquisition and engagement marketing, programming, and content curation for both Disney+ and Star. Prior to joining Disney, Earley spent three years as president of the Jackal Group, where he headed up the company’s film, TV, digital and commercial theater divisions. Before that, he enjoyed a two-decade run at 20th Century Fox, most recently serving as COO for the Fox Television Group.
Michele Edelman
Head of Growth, Premiere Digital
Edelman is one of the streaming industry’s key supply chain enablers. Since joining Premiere Digital in 2019, she has helped grow the company into one of the primary media services and technology vendors in the distribution space and broaden its focus into all aspects of digital distribution, including AVOD, SVOD and TVOD. Clients include all the major studios and streamers, as well as a growing number of digital distribution platforms. Even before joining Premiere, Edelman was a prime mover in the digital supply chain. During her more than 20 years at Warner Bros., she pushed the company toward digital distribution even as the focus was on DVD. She later headed strategy at content services provider Vubiquity. “I was born into the supply chain — literally,” she says, noting that as a child her family business was manufacturing link chains for industrial, security and decorative purposes.
Jamie Erlicht & Zack Van Amburg
Heads, Worldwide Video, Apple
Erlicht and Van Amburg jointly lead Apple TV+, which in the four years since its November 2019 launch has grown from a SVOD also-ran into a viable contender in the high-stakes competition for coveted content. Most recently, the duo was responsible in part for restoring Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon period movie from Paramount Pictures’ shelf and onto the big screen. The movie co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in a drama involving unsolved murders on the Osage Nation Indian reservation in Northern Oklahoma. After 12 years as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television, Erlicht and Van Amburg moved to Apple in 2017 to prepare for the launch of Apple TV+. After a slow start, Apple TV+ gained steam with originals and in 2021 became the first streamer to win the Best Picture Academy Award with CODA, which Apple acquired for a record $25 million. Apple TV+ snapped up that prize in only its second year in the film business, besting veterans such as Netflix and Prime Video. Apple TV+ continues to bridge the content divide with rivals, re-upping favorites “The Morning Show,” “Ted Lasso” and “See,” and releasing myriad new shows, including “Lessons in Chemistry” with Brie Larson, the kids-centric “Jane,” and the sci-fi thriller “Silo.”
Danny Fisher
Co-Founder and CEO, FilmRise
Fisher heads the largest provider of content in the AVOD/FAST space. A pioneer of the ad-supported model now embraced by Netflix, Disney+ and the other major streamers, Fisher helped fuel the growth of AVOD and, more recently, the proliferation of FAST channels. A veteran film and television producer, financier and distributor, Fisher co-founded FilmRise in 2012 and developed a proprietary data analytics methodology that measures viewer demand for content. This development led to a decade of soaring and strategic growth, with tens of thousands of FilmRise titles now streaming all over the world, including on more than 250 FilmRise FAST channels. FilmRise releases content to Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Peacock, Pluto TV, Freevee, Tubi, Samsung, Vizio and many more, with over 40,000 hours of content in its library. Fisher also created the FilmRise streaming network, one of the largest independently owned AVOD services. Prior to launching FilmRise, Fisher ran City Lights Media Group, a film and television production and distribution company.
Mark Fisher
President and CEO, OTT.X
Fisher heads the streaming industry’s trade association, with more than 120 member companies. He has been at the helm of OTT.X since it evolved nearly four years ago out of the Entertainment Merchants Association, which he had headed since 2012. Under Fisher’s direction, OTT.X has more than doubled its membership and launched an affiliate program that now includes five universities. OTT.X stages two annual tentpole events, the X-Fronts in May and the OTT.X Summit in the early fall, each attracting upwards of 600 attendees from all sectors in the streaming business — SVOD, AVOD, FAST, market research, and technology. OTT.X also hosts smaller networking events nearly every month in Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas, and Miami to bring its members together to collaborate and share knowledge and insights. Fisher joined what was then the Video Software Dealers Association in 1999 as VP of Membership and Strategic Initiatives and saw the organization evolve into EMA and, ultimately, OTT.X.
Larry Fitzgibbon
Co-Founder and CEO, Tastemade
Fitzgibbon is responsible for propelling Tastemade into an immensely popular global video platform reaching an audience of more than 250 million monthly viewers. Tastemade has built a growing global community around its programming in food, travel, and home and design, which appears on all major digital, mobile, streaming OTT, and linear television platforms. Tastemade’s streaming now reaches viewers in more than 50 countries and 220 million homes worldwide. In 2023, Tastemade will program 300+ hours of new shows. Fitzgibbon was instrumental in raising more than $130 million in venture capital, and spearheaded Tastemade’s recent multimillion-dollar, multiyear partnership with Constellation Brands to launch a first-of-its-kind content studio that creates and distributes social and streaming content. The partnership’s first show, “Street Somm,” is now streaming. Before Tastemade, Fitzgibbon was a part of Demand Media’s founding team. Under his management, the company’s portfolio of media properties grew to a worldwide audience of more than 140 million unique visitors.
Garson Foos
CEO and Founder, Shout! Studios
Under Foos’ leadership, Shout! Studios has successfully adapted to the evolving entertainment landscape and transformed from its physical media roots into a multifaceted business — streaming, digital media, libraries, and producer of new content. A key area is content licensing and digital distribution, particularly in the realm of streaming and digital media. Shout! Studios has been recognized by the industry for revitalizing cult and classic film and TV series on various viewing platforms. Today, digital streaming — TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and FAST — has become a well-established business for Shout!, especially for cult and classic film and TV libraries. Since 2015, Shout!’s digital entertainment streaming service Shout! TV has brought timeless and contemporary cult favorites to pop culture fans. Shout! TV offers a blend of original programming, movies and series curated from major studios, independent producers, and its own entertainment library. In recent years, Shout! has also emerged as a leading distributor of top anime and animation content.
Mark Garner
EVP and Head of Global FAST Channels, A+E Networks
Garner is the point man for A+E Networks’ big push into FAST. The A+E vet in September was appointed to the newly created position and is charged with accelerating the company’s FAST business internationally and extending its reach in the U.S. market. A+E ventured into FAST in 2018 with the History Shorts channel and now has more than 20 FAST channels focused on lifestyle, competition, true crime and movies. Garner previously was EVP of global content sales and business development for A+E Networks, a role in which he led the charge to position A+E Networks as an essential partner for streamers. He guided the company’s early adoption of FAST while continuing to grow and monetize A+E’s footprint across AVOD and SVOD platforms. Before joining A+E Networks in 2007, Garner worked as an executive at several start-up ventures, including a satellite broadcast network based in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he successfully built the network’s distribution to 22 sub-Saharan countries.
Devin Griffin
EVP and GM, BET+
Griffin heads the top streamer serving the African-American audience. BET+ has more than 2,000 hours of content, including new original programming and fan-favorite series, movies and specials from BET Networks and a host of leading African-American content creators, including Tyler Perry. Griffin manages BET+’s P&Ls and oversees business strategy and operations, including original programming, content acquisitions, marketing, distribution, planning and analysis. Prior to joining BET+ in 2019, Griffin was a producer and EVP at Story Lab U.S., where he co-founded and led the company’s foray into premium long-form content development. Previously, he held various senior content roles at Netflix. He formed and led the company’s unscripted group, commissioning and/or executive producing more than 40 series, including the Emmy Award-winning “Queer Eye” and the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance. He also worked extensively on scripted drama, comedy, sci-fi and anime. Earlier in his career Griffin was head of business development at Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels’ production company.
Carol Hanley
CEO, Whip Media
Hanley was named CEO of Whip Media, a leading enterprise software platform and data provider to the world’s largest entertainment organizations, in June 2023, after two years as president. She joined the company in 2017 as chief revenue and strategy officer and has since overseen the development of new content measurement solutions that combine viewership consumption data with financial information to help streamers, broadcasters and studios track content performance and guide future licensing decisions. Under her leadership, Whip Media acquired Mediamorph, with a platform that powered more than two-thirds of all global digital transactional revenue for the film and television industries, and the TV and movie metadata platform TheTVDB. Today, Whip Media plays a key role in the content distribution and acquisition ecosystem, managing trillions of global VOD and digital sellthrough transactions annually and millions of avails for major content providers and distributors globally. Before Whip Media, Hanley was chief revenue officer of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group. Before that, she spent 15 years as EVP, chief revenue and chief marketing officer at Nielsen Audio.
Mike Hopkins
SVP, Prime Video, MGM and Amazon Studios
Hopkins has been overseeing all aspects of Amazon’s video entertainment businesses since joining the e-commerce giant in 2020. He previously served as chairman of Sony Pictures Television, overseeing the venerable studio’s prodigious episodic programming production facility to third-party distributors around the world. Prior to joining Sony, Hopkins headed Hulu as CEO. With more than 30 years of media experience and an extensive track record of developing and producing innovative TV content, Hopkins was key to the development of Hulu after joining the streamer in 2013. He helped quintuple the service’s market valuation, growing its streaming audience to more than 47 million, while greenlighting the platform’s initial original programming slate, which includes Emmy-winning “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Mindy Project,” “Castle Rock” and “Marvel’s Runaways,” among others. Under Hopkins’ leadership at Hulu, the streamer transitioned into the pay-TV market with Hulu + Live TV featuring live sports, weather and news, on top of its legacy SVOD business.
Keith Le Goy
Chairman, Worldwide Networks & Distribution, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Le Goy oversees the physical and digital distribution of television and home entertainment content to all media and retail platforms, as well as Sony Pictures Television’s direct-to-consumer properties — including anime service Crunchyroll. The fast-growing platform, which has more than 12 million subscribers, recently announced an agreement with Prime Video to carry the service and launched a 24/7 anime channel on Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, the Roku Channel and Vizio WatchFree+. Le Goy is also behind numerous lucrative content deals with Netflix and Disney, as well as the extension of a Central Eastern European pact with Warner Bros. Discovery and international sales of SPT titles including Twisted Metal, which is based on the classic PlayStation game. Prior to being appointed to his present position in April 2021, Le Goy was president of worldwide distribution for SPT before expanding his role in 2018 to include oversight of home entertainment and networks. He joined SPT in 1999 as SVP of European distribution, and later took charge of distribution in Latin America.
Adam Lewinson
Chief Content Officer, Tubi
Under Lewinson’s direction, Fox Entertainment’s free ad-supported Tubi streaming platform increased viewership in fiscal 2023 by 79% to more than 74 million monthly viewers, making it the No. 1 AVOD platform in the country. The platform in September generated 1.3% total TV market share, ahead of both Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platforms, according to Nielsen. To get there, Lewinson, who oversees content strategy, acquisitions and original content development and production, expedited the release of original content from myriad producers, including “The Freak Brothers” with Pete Davidson, “Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial” and the recent remake of “Terror Train,” among others. Before joining Tubi in 2017, Lewinson was SVP of programming/marketing at Sony Pictures Television and the AVOD platform Crackle. He was instrumental in the launch of Crackle’s original series and movies. He was also the programming executive on Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” Before joining Sony in 2015, Lewinson spent more than a decade at FX Networks.
Rodrigo Mazon
EVP and Chief Content Officer, ViX
Mazon oversees content at ViX, Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision’s fast-growing streaming service, which launched in July 2022 with more than 10,000 hours of content and plans to stream more than 70 ViX original series and films in its first year. He was promoted to EVP and chief content officer of ViX in January 2023, less than two years after he joined Univision as EVP and GM of SVOD, a role in which he was tasked with launching the new streamer after Univision completed its merger with Televisa. In his new role, Mazon’s mandate is to focus on AVOD as well as SVOD. Since his promotion, ViX has struck distribution deals with Roku and Samsung and, in October, reported more than 40 million monthly average viewers. Prior to joining TelevisaUnivision, Mazon spent six years at Netflix, most recently as VP of content, where he was responsible for such hit shows as “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”) and “El Chapo.” Before joining Netflix, Mazon was director of content at Hulu, where he launched Hulu Latino.
Will McIntosh
President, Fandango Media and NBC Sports Next
McIntosh oversees some of the largest technology platforms in sports and entertainment. He leads several streaming businesses for NBCUniversal, including on-demand video service Vudu; golf instructional OTT channel GolfPass; and SportsEngine Play, the newly released streaming service for youth and amateur sports. Since McIntosh took the helm of Vudu in 2022, the service has seen double-digit growth year-over-year. Over the past year Vudu has become the streaming destination for AMC Theatres on Demand and has grown its library to 250,000 movies and TV shows. Under McIntosh, NBC Sports Next — a subdivision of NBC Sports and home to all NBCUniversal digital applications in sports and technology — launched SportsEngine Play, a streaming platform serving 60 million participants in youth sports. In addition to capturing and viewing live and on-demand video of sporting events, the service offers editing tools for highlight reels and player development videos from world-class athletes such as Michael Phelps, Shaun White and more.
Bill Neighbors & Geir Skaaden
Chief Content Officer;
Chief Products and Services Officer;
Xperi Inc.
Neighbors and Skaaden are the content and product visionaries at entertainment technology giant Xperi. Neighbors oversees the group charged with gaining access to and delivering entertainment content across all Xperi platforms inclusive of homes, connected cars, mobile devices and cinemas. Most recently, Neighbors and his team have signed multiple partners to Xperi’s independent media platforms, which power smart-TVs and connected car video streaming services. Neighbors has worked in the entertainment technology industry for more than 30 years spanning the music, TV and motion picture sectors, including his role as a foundational leader at DTS in 1993. Skaaden is responsible for product strategy at Xperi and developing the company’s roadmap across its key segments: pay-TV, connected car, media platforms and consumer electronics. Skaaden’s vision is to bring the best of Xperi’s brands (DTS, TiVo, HD Radio and Imax Enhanced) to life with an independent media platform that allows content to flow freely across environments. His goal is to make sure consumers can have an “always on, intelligent, anytime, anywhere, on any device, informed” experience, whether it’s music, movies, video games or any kind of content. Before joining Xperi, Skaaden served as the CEO of Neural Audio Corp., which was acquired by DTS in 2008.
Scott Olechowski
Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Plex
Olechowski is responsible for product strategy, product management, and business development for free live-TV streaming service Plex’s software and services. A pioneer in streaming media, Olechowski co-founded Plex as a hobby with the intent of making organizing and accessing digital media easy and seamless. Today, Plex is available in 180 countries and is considered among the most comprehensive entertainment platforms available, serving as a one-stop destination to discover, assemble a watchlist, and stream almost every movie and TV show. Over the past 25 years Olechowski has applied his entrepreneurial know-how and spirit to a number of software- and internet-focused start-ups. His professional experience includes executive positions in product strategy, business development, marketing, and international sales for a number of established brands such as Cisco, PostX and IronPort. He is an expert in cryptography with six issued encryption and authentication patents.
Erick Opeka
President and Chief Strategy Officer, Cineverse
A prominent strategist in the streaming industry, Opeka added the title of president, while continuing his role as chief strategy officer, this past May when the company rebranded from Cinedigm. He spearheads the company’s strategic initiatives as well as its merger and acquisitions efforts, and oversees its portfolio of more than two dozen SVOD, AVOD and FAST channels — most recently expanding an ad-based deal to include FAST-focused content with The Preview Channel. With eight acquisitions in the past two years, Opeka is now focused on Terrifier 2, the sequel to a low-budget horror film that was a surprise box office hit and helped drive subscriptions to the company’s proprietary ScreamBox platform. The concurrent theatrical/SVOD strategy underscores Opeka’s desire to pull on as many distribution levers as possible to maximize content revenue opportunities. Prior to becoming chief strategy officer in January 2021, Opeka was president of Digital Networks, heading up planning, development, launch and operations of a roster of digital channels.
Jim Packer
President of Worldwide Television Distribution, Lionsgate
Packer oversees the distribution, licensing and marketing of Lionsgate’s 40 to 50 feature films annually, as well as its television slate, deep roster of Starz original programming, and 18,000-title film and television library to hundreds of broadcast, cable, SVOD, AVOD and FAST platforms worldwide. He has spearheaded the studio’s efforts to grow its billion-dollar global distribution business, securing distribution rights to leading third-party properties such as Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 and Jackie Brown, the global phenomenon “The Chosen,” and ABC’s hit series “The Conners.” He also signed licensing deals for the John Wick prequel series “The Continental” at Amazon’s Prime Video and Peacock, where it recently became the platform’s biggest original launch of the year. In addition, Packer led his team to develop Lionsgate’s robust FAST channel lineup that includes MovieSphere, HerSphere, OuterSphere and Ebony TV as well as single IP channels such as Nashville and Ghost Hunters.
Jean-Briac “JB” Perrette
President, CEO Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery
Perrette was behind the rollout this past May of the revised Max streaming platform, which combined HBO Max with Discovery+ content into a unified digital product. Key to the success of the new Max is Perrette’s push for expedited streaming access to theatrical releases, including The Batman in 2022, Dune in 2021 and Barbie this year. “We expect Barbie to do incredibly well,” Perrette said on WBD’s most recent fiscal call. “[Theatrical] continues to be an incredibly important part of the SVOD business.” Separately, Perrette oversees Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming and interactive entertainment business. Perrette previously served as president and CEO of Discovery Streaming and International. Prior to joining Discovery in 2011 as chief digital officer, he spent 11 years with NBCUniversal, ultimately serving as president of digital and affiliate distribution. During that time, he played a leadership role in creating and developing Hulu, including serving on its board for several years.
Mike Pears
EVP, Distribution, AMC Networks
Pears has been busy inking third-party digital distribution deals for AMC Networks’ portfolio of streaming assets, including British-themed Acorn TV, ALLBLK (formerly the Urban Movie Channel), the horror- themed Shudder, AMC+, WEtv, and Sundance Now, among others. In addition to securing foreign licensed content for distribution in the United States, Pears in September signed a distribution deal affording UKTV and BBC Studios with the U.K. and Benelux rights to a number of shows from AMC Networks, including “Mrs. Sidhu Investigates,” “Darby and Joan” season one, “Signora Volpe” season one, and “Whitstable Pearl” seasons one and two for companies’ ad-supported free-to-air channel drama and free streaming service UKTV Play; “Dark Winds” for crime channel Alibi; and Acorn TV’s “The South Westerlies” on UKTV Play. “Both in the U.S. and around the world, we want to make our shows available on a wide variety of platforms, to find new viewers and build awareness of the high-quality content that continues to define our company,” Pears said.
Colin Petrie-Norris & Marcien Jenckes
Chief Revenue Officer and Platform Officer;
President;
Xumo
As CEO of the old Xumo, Petrie-Norris successfully partnered with the world’s largest television OEMs to revolutionize the way TVs are programmed. With traditional linear TV viewership declining, he recognized the need to change things up. As a result, he spearheaded an initiative that combined linear TV with over-the-top (OTT) content, creating a streaming-centric viewing experience. Petrie-Norris is now chief revenue officer and platform officer for the revamped Xumo, a newly formed joint venture between Comcast and Charter aimed at consolidating consumers’ access points to third-party streaming video platforms. His extensive background establishing and building digital advertising networks afforded him an inside track on how each partner in the joint venture can best monetize digital content. As president of the new Xumo, Jenckes oversees all aspects of the joint venture, including product direction, distribution and market plans, content strategy, and monetization models. Concurrently, he serves as managing director of Comcast Advertising, including Effectv, Comcast Cable’s ad sales division, and FreeWheel, a technology platform connecting buyers and sellers. Prior to taking on these roles, Jenckes served as the president of Comcast Advertising. Before that, he was EVP of Comcast’s consumer services division, overseeing the company’s residential lines of business, including Xfinity Video, Xfinity Internet, Xfinity Home and Xfinity Voice.
Ryan Pirozzi
Head, Amazon Freevee
Pirozzi has overseen a rash of content deals this past year for Freevee, Amazon’s free, ad-supported streaming service, which was launched in 2019 as IMDb TV and rebranded to Amazon Freevee in April 2022. Most recently, the service added three lifestyle FAST/live TV channels from All3Media International: “Gardening With Monty Don,” a channel for the cooking competition series “Great British Menu,” and “Fifth Gear,” about automobiles. Pirozzi, who was promoted into his present position in August 2022 after two years as co-head of content and programming, has spearheaded two international launches in the United Kingdom and Germany, Freevee’s first Emmy nominations, and the app’s expansion across household televisions and mobile devices. He also gets credit for securing exclusive streaming-window film deals with major studios such as Disney and NBCUniversal. Prior to joining Freevee, Pirozzi was head of worldwide television and film licensing for Amazon’s Prime Video. Before joining Amazon in 2011, Pirozzi spent seven years at Best Buy, where he led several store categories, including physical and digital video.
Katherine Pond
Group VP, Platform Content and Partnerships, Vizio
Pond heads distribution, content acquisition, programming, platform partnerships, and marketing at Vizio, the CE brand that has embraced streaming more fervently than any of its competitors. Since joining the Irvine, Calif.-based company in 2012, Pond has initiated, negotiated, and closed deals across content distribution and acquisition, IP, advertising, and data verticals. She leads the teams responsible for closing deals with Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony and more. She also has been instrumental in monetizing new lines of business, including Vizio’s ad-supported WatchFree+ streaming platform. In addition to wearing myriad corporate hats, Pond is passionate about the development and success of future generations, co-founding Vizio’s Ascend Women’s Network. She has received honors including Stream TV Top Executive in Content Distribution (Finalist, 2023), Media Play News’ 40 Under 40 in Home Entertainment (2022) and Women Captains of Home Entertainment (2023), and Next TV’s The Watch List 2020.
Amy Reinhard
President, Ads, Netflix
Reinhard is driving Netflix’s push into the ad-supported streaming market. She was given the assignment in October 2023, replacing Jeremi Gorman, who, in just a year on the job, orchestrated the November 2022 launch of Netflix’s ad-supported tier. Citing Reinhard’s seven-year tenure at Netflix, co-CEO Greg Peters said the executive had proved to be an exceptionally strong leader, with a deep understanding of the entertainment business and consumer tastes as well as the ability to build lasting partnerships across the industry. “These skills, in particular her strength in TV and film, are critical for the success of our ads business,” Peters said. Reinhard, who previously headed studio operations, joined Netflix in 2016 as a VP of content acquisition after 10 years at Paramount Pictures. There, she oversaw the global licensing of movies and TV shows, in addition to local-language content acquisitions across Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. Reinhard also spearheaded studio productions and facilities management, among other responsibilities.
William J. Rouhana Jr. & Philippe Guelton
Chairman and CEO;
Chief Revenue Officer;
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment
Rouhana and Guelton are the powers behind Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the biggest AVOD network not owned by a major media or tech firm. Rouhana is a former cable exec who realized early on that the subscription streaming model is not sustainable because of its reliance on a single revenue stream — hence, his early push into the ad-supported sector that all the other streamers are jumping into. Guelton is charged with making Rouhana’s vision of multiple revenue streams happen. Earlier this year CSSE launched Crackle Connex, an advertising sales platform designed to simplify the buying process for marketers with consistent measurement and performance tracking. Crackle Connex recently cut a deal with TransUnion to help it develop custom audiences from first-party viewership data and retarget viewers of connected-TV campaigns at Redbox kiosks nationwide. Both Rouhana and Guelton have impressive backgrounds: Rouhana was the founder and CEO of Winstar Communications, a wireless broadband pioneer, and Winstar New Media, one of the earliest online content companies. Guelton prior to joining CSSE in 2019 was CEO of SheKnows Media (now She Media), a digital media company acquired by Penske Media Corp. in 2018. Previously, Guelton served as president of Thrillist Media Group, a leading men’s lifestyle digital brand now part of GroupNine.
Tom Ryan & Jeff Shultz
President and CEO, Streaming, Paramount Global
Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Paramount Streaming
With Ryan at the helm, Paramount+ has seen considerable growth in 2023, with revenue up 61% year-over-year and the global subscriber count reaching 63 million through September 2023. In June 2023 Ryan expanded the Paramount+ offering with the integration of Showtime. He also orchestrated the November Paramount+ rollouts in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. Shultz in January helped drive a deal with Delta Air Lines, giving all Delta SkyMiles members free access to Wi-Fi and Paramount+ on Delta domestic flights. In June, Shultz helped forge a partnership with Verizon+Play, which combined the Paramount+ with Showtime offering with Netflix, the first time two major streamers were offered in a bundle together. That pact is the latest in a string of global deals Shultz has been involved with, including partnering with Walmart and its Walmart+ membership platform and making Paramount+ available to Sky TV customers with Sky Cinema at no extra cost. Shultz joined Viacom (now Paramount Global) in 2019, as part of its acquisition of Pluto TV, where he was the chief business officer, reporting to Ryan. Viacom acquired Pluto for $340 million in 2019 and both men came aboard as part of the deal.
Ted Sarandos & Greg Peters
Co-CEOs, Netflix
Sarandos has spent much of the year as Netflix’s public face on the Hollywood work stoppages. The product of a union household growing up in suburban Phoenix, Sarandos has attempted to straddle the political fence between studios/content producers and non-celebrity working actors who help make Netflix’s programming a reality. In doing so, he has upped his industry profile, offering tough rebuttals to actors’ demands for revenue sharing on streaming subscribers, but also helping bring both sides back to the bargaining table in hopes of ending the strike. Sarandos, a former video retailer, joined Netflix in its infancy and helped grow the company alongside co-founder Reed Hastings, who in July 2020 appointed his longtime content czar co-CEO. Peters in January 2023 was elevated into the same post after Hastings stepped down and became executive chairman. Peters’ job has been to solidify Netflix’s move toward ad-supported streaming, and re-upping excommunicated password freeloaders now mandated with either getting their own subscription or paying a $7.99 monthly fee to continue sharing an existing third-party account. Peters, who speaks five languages, joined the streamer in 2008 and as international development officer helped launch Netflix in Japan. In July 2017 Peters became chief product officer, and in 2020, chief operating officer.
Srinivasan KA
Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi
A technology entrepreneur, Srini leads Amagi’s foray into the CTV-led FAST revolution, enabling content owners and broadcasters to create, distribute and monetize live linear FAST channels. Under Srini’s leadership, Amagi has built deep technical integration with upwards of 50 FAST platforms. Amagi has a market share of more than 25% among unique U.S. FAST channels and supports more than 700 content brands with 3,800-plus channel deliveries. Its customers include NBCUniversal, ABS-CBN, Accuweather, Blue Ant Media, CNN, Gannett and the NFL. The company has doubled in size over the past three years, and has attracted marquee SaaS investors such as Accel, Norwest, Avataar, General Atlantic and Premji Invest. Last year, the company achieved unicorn status, making it one of the highest-valued media tech companies in the world. Srini is a technology entrepreneur with nearly a quarter of a century of experience in establishing and successfully scaling businesses. Before co-founding Amagi in 2008, Srini co-founded wireless audio company ImpulseSoft. He began his career at Texas Instruments as a software engineer.