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the-axios-show

Suzanne Bertrand was named CFO of Pitch Black, the parent company of visual effects studios FuseFX, FOLKS, Rising Sun Pictures and El Ranchito. https://axios.link/3o3bV5p

Thomas Follin, former director general of shuttered French streaming platform Salto, joined Canal+ Group as chief global transformation officer. https://axios.link/41aIKKZ

Shirley Halperin, Variety's executive editor of music, joined Los Angeles Magazine as EIC. https://axios.link/3NN6K3S

Stéphane Taine joined Hinge as CPO. He previously worked as head of product management for Messenger at Meta. https://axios.link/3q6J4x

Umesh Sripad was hired as the first CPO of PureRED, an Atlanta-based digital marketing firm. He was most recently SVP and CDO at Bed Bath & Beyond. https://axios.link/426nFBU

Julia Brau Donnelly joined Pinterest as CFO. She spent the past seven years at Wayfair, most recently as VP and global head of finance and accounting. https://axios.link/3NdAXIR

Twitter and Bird alum Rebecca Hahn joined Tools for Humanity — the parent organization of WorldCoin, co-founded by Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Max Novendstern — as chief communications officer, Eleanor Hawkins scooped. https://axios.link/3WwYNly

Kim Posnett was named global head of TMT investment banking at Goldman Sachs. https://axios.link/3VvN0DI

Glenn Geller, former CBS entertainment president, joined Skybound Entertainment as head of television. https://axios.link/3LI3LIr

Tamaya Petteway was named SVP of partnerships at Dick Clark Productions. https://axios.link/3BZ1x1Q

Cathy Nam joined Universal Filmed Entertainment Group as SVP of global communications. https://axios.link/3IMHKq7

Melissa Rubinson was named SVP, business development and partnerships at BBC Studios. She was previously senior director of strategic accounts and partnerships at Reuters. https://axios.link/3C1WEoP

Snap hired Patrick Harris, a nearly 12-year veteran of Meta, as SVP of partnerships and David Sommer, former chief commercial officer of shopping app Fetch, as head of verticals. https://axios.link/41bIYBP

Jaime Otero, former Whip Media and RightsTrade executive, joined Parrot Analytics as its VP of partnerships. https://axios.link/3WeIpG

MPC's Tom Williams joined DNEG, the London-based visual effects and animation studio, as managing director for episodic content in its VFX division. https://axios.link/414le2a

G. Elliott Morris, formerly with The Economist, joined ABC News as its editorial director of data analytics after Nate Silver's departure. https://axios.link/42S64yO

Kaitlan Collins was chosen by CNN to host a new weeknight show at 9pm ET, Warner Bros. Discovery announced at its upfront. https://axios.link/3MaYyb7

Nathan Brown joined Range Media Partners as a partner, leading its new digital business unit. He most recently was general manager at Ellen Digital Ventures. https://axios.link/42lQg7h

Pat McAfee signed a more than eight-figure deal with ESPN. McAfee will walk away from his four-year, $120m contract with FanDuel and take "The Pat McAfee Show" to the network. https://axios.link/41IB6Ie

Lionsgate merged its production and acquisitions groups, led by Nathan Kahane with Jason Constantine as co-president of its motion picture group. It hired Confluential Films' Charlotte Koh as EVP, acquisitions and co-productions, and promoted Lauren Bixby to SVP, acquisitions and co-productions. https://axios.link/3IcjWLU

UBS poached at least seven TMT bankers from Barclays, per Reuters. They are Laurence Braham, Richard Hardegree, Richard Casavechia, Ozzie Ramos, Jason Williams, Neil Meyer and Ken Tittle. https://axios.link/4524lsd

Jellysmack is hiring another M&A lead, specifically a VP of post-merger integrations, per a job posting flagged by Insider. https://axios.link/3MebuhO

💼 New hires

Illustration of a hand cursor carrying a briefcase

The White House announced that President Biden will nominate Anna Gomez to the vacant fifth seat at the FCC and renominate Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks. https://axios.link/3BPY99l

🗳️ Elections and appointments

Tim Plumley was promoted to VP of media and artist relations at UMe, the catalog division of Universal Music Group. https://axios.link/40WPDPO

Chris Ottinger, who led MGM's distribution team, was promoted to head Amazon's new Amazon MGM Studios Distribution unit. https://axios.link/3piCkwj

Jim Lee was promoted to president of DC at Warner Bros. Discovery. He also serves as publisher and CCO of the comic book company. https://axios.link/3nrgLJ9

Chris Castallo moved from the head of unscripted TV at Amazon, to its scripted team. https://axios.link/44CiGLK

Business head Vishal Ramchandani was promoted to CEO at Excel Entertainment, the Indian production studio. https://axios.link/42heUp

Phil Nelson was promoted to CNN's international business operations. He was previously COO of CNN International Commercial. https://axios.link/3WqCyh5

Laurel Weir was promoted by Paramount to oversee Showtime in her role as EVP, head of programming and strategic insights and research for MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, as Kim Lemon exits after 34 years at Showtime. https://axios.link/3WrutsJ

Gloria Sanchez Productions promoted Alex Brown to head of film and hired Amazon Studios' Alix Taylor as head of television. https://axios.link/42mbIsa

📢 Promotions

Eric Han, U.S. head of trust and safety at TikTok, is leaving. https://axios.link/3LTh88Z

Nirvani Sabess, head of human resources, was fired by Mansueto Ventures, the publisher of Inc. and Fast Company, after discovering she was allegedly committing financial fraud against the company. She was arrested, per Adweek. https://axios.link/44vQgTQ

Film distribution head David Spitz is leaving Lionsgate. Former STX distribution veteran Kevin Grayson was named president of domestic distribution of the studio's motion picture group. https://axios.link/3M71hUq

Joe Purzycki, co-founder and CEO of Puck News, is leaving the company, Sara Fischer scooped. https://axios.link/42yJEC3

Hadley Gamble, senior international correspondent for CNBC, is leaving the network. Last month, Gamble accused former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell of sexual harassment, which led to Shell's firing. NBCU and Gamble negotiated a financial settlement worth more than $1 million. https://axios.link/3W4TfPj

Stacey Snider is stepping down as CEO of London-based media company Sister Global. Chair Elisabeth Murdoch will assume her duties on an interim basis. Snider, who founded Sister with Murdoch and Jane Featherstone, will remain involved as a creative adviser. https://axios.link/44GfQpf

Peter Distad, who runs Apple TV+, the TV app and sports operations for Apple, plans to leave at the end of the month, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/41rVWLR

Jenny Tartikoff stepped down as EVP of global communications at Paramount. https://axios.link/3Bd3hUG

Diego Scotti is stepping down as CMO of Verizon after nearly nine years in the role. https://axios.link/3nZdmBN

Jeff Jordan is stepping back from making new investments at Andreessen Horowitz, where he led deals like Pinterest. https://axios.link/3BIJrRs

Cory Shields, VP, public relations for studios and digital video, is leaving Amazon after a three-year run. He spent the prior two decades with NBCUniversal. https://axios.link/43la0rJ

Conny Braams is leaving Unilever after more than 33 years. She was most recently chief digital and commercial officer. https://axios.link/3NcQrwJ

Terra Potts is exiting her role as EVP of worldwide marketing at Warner Bros. Pictures. https://axios.link/3ONpH78

BT Group said it plans to cut its workforce by as many as 55,000 people by 2030 once it completes its fiber-optic rollout. https://axios.link/3BJ0e6

G/O Media changes: Zach Seward resigned from Quartz, and Gizmodo hired CNET editorial director Dan Ackerman as EIC, per Adweek. https://axios.link/3ou6SLy

🛫 Departures

Welcome to our newest feature for Media Deals readers. Once a month, we're going to recap who's working where now. 

Did you or a friend recently change jobs? Tell us! Get wind of layoffs somewhere? Tell us!

You can skim below to find New hires; Elections and appointments; Promotions; and Departures. 

📥 Your opinion matters to us. Please share your thoughts by replying to this email! 

There you have it. Now, please let us know your thoughts. 

Is this the right time to get it? Is monthly the right cadence? Anything else you'd like us to add? Any scoop you want to share? Hit reply and let us know. 

Special thanks to Research Associate Natalie Breymeyer for doing the heavy lifting on this project!

June 03, 2023

💼 New hires