ITV

Tag: Holly

  • Amblin Partners promotes Jeff Small to president & co-CEO

    Amblin Partners promotes Jeff Small to president & co-CEO

    MUMBAI: Amblin Partners has promoted Jeff Small as president and co-CEO. Previously, he served as president and COO.

    Amblin Partners chairman Steven Spielberg said, “I am so pleased to congratulate Jeff on this promotion to president and co-chief executive officer. It reflects what he has done for us in both challenging and gratifying times over the last ten years, never losing sight of our vision for Amblin Partners. With our team headed by Michael and Jeff, joined by Kristie, Holly, Darryl and Justin, we hope the best is yet to come.”

    Small, who played a key role in the creation of Amblin Partners in December 2015, will continue to work closely with the company’s CEO, Michael Wright, to guide Amblin Partners’ business strategy. He will continue to oversee company operations such as finance, business and legal affairs, physical production, human resources, communications and administration as well as managing the company’s relationships with its financial and distribution partners.

    Wright said, “Over the last year, I have had a first-hand view of Jeff’s innovative spirit and problem-solving acumen and felt an immediate partnership with him. This promotion is so well deserved, and I look forward to working together with Jeff, Steven and the team as we grow Amblin Partners.”

    Small added, “I’ve been incredibly lucky to work for Steven for almost a decade, and I couldn’t be more excited to help him and Michael build our company in the years to come. I am also very appreciative of the support we’ve received from our incredible partners at Participant, Reliance, and Entertainment One.”

    Prior to his new role, Small served as president and COO of DreamWorks Studios, a position he held since 2006. In December 2015, Small led the efforts to launch Amblin Partners, together with Participant Media, Reliance, and Entertainment One, and a consortium of banks led by JPMorgan Chase and Comerica Bank. He also oversaw the negotiation of the company’s distribution agreement with Universal Pictures, aligning Amblin Partners with the industry’s premier marketing and distribution organization.

    In 2009, following DreamWorks Studios’ separation from Paramount Pictures, Small shepherded the re-launching of a newly independent studio alongside Reliance BIG Entertainment, securing $825 million in equity and debt capital. Prior to DreamWorks, Small spent six years at Revolution Studios, first serving as the company’s head of strategic planning and business development, then as CFO, and eventually, COO. 

    Among other key projects, he led a $750 million leveraged recapitalization of Revolution Studios and its 47-picture library. Before joining Revolution, Small spent several years with Universal Studios beginning in the corporate development group. He began his career in the Walt Disney Company Motion Picture Group.

  • Amblin Partners promotes Jeff Small to president & co-CEO

    Amblin Partners promotes Jeff Small to president & co-CEO

    MUMBAI: Amblin Partners has promoted Jeff Small as president and co-CEO. Previously, he served as president and COO.

    Amblin Partners chairman Steven Spielberg said, “I am so pleased to congratulate Jeff on this promotion to president and co-chief executive officer. It reflects what he has done for us in both challenging and gratifying times over the last ten years, never losing sight of our vision for Amblin Partners. With our team headed by Michael and Jeff, joined by Kristie, Holly, Darryl and Justin, we hope the best is yet to come.”

    Small, who played a key role in the creation of Amblin Partners in December 2015, will continue to work closely with the company’s CEO, Michael Wright, to guide Amblin Partners’ business strategy. He will continue to oversee company operations such as finance, business and legal affairs, physical production, human resources, communications and administration as well as managing the company’s relationships with its financial and distribution partners.

    Wright said, “Over the last year, I have had a first-hand view of Jeff’s innovative spirit and problem-solving acumen and felt an immediate partnership with him. This promotion is so well deserved, and I look forward to working together with Jeff, Steven and the team as we grow Amblin Partners.”

    Small added, “I’ve been incredibly lucky to work for Steven for almost a decade, and I couldn’t be more excited to help him and Michael build our company in the years to come. I am also very appreciative of the support we’ve received from our incredible partners at Participant, Reliance, and Entertainment One.”

    Prior to his new role, Small served as president and COO of DreamWorks Studios, a position he held since 2006. In December 2015, Small led the efforts to launch Amblin Partners, together with Participant Media, Reliance, and Entertainment One, and a consortium of banks led by JPMorgan Chase and Comerica Bank. He also oversaw the negotiation of the company’s distribution agreement with Universal Pictures, aligning Amblin Partners with the industry’s premier marketing and distribution organization.

    In 2009, following DreamWorks Studios’ separation from Paramount Pictures, Small shepherded the re-launching of a newly independent studio alongside Reliance BIG Entertainment, securing $825 million in equity and debt capital. Prior to DreamWorks, Small spent six years at Revolution Studios, first serving as the company’s head of strategic planning and business development, then as CFO, and eventually, COO. 

    Among other key projects, he led a $750 million leveraged recapitalization of Revolution Studios and its 47-picture library. Before joining Revolution, Small spent several years with Universal Studios beginning in the corporate development group. He began his career in the Walt Disney Company Motion Picture Group.

  • Sky expands kids VoD offering by 600%

    Sky expands kids VoD offering by 600%

    NEW DELHI: UK and Ireland’s connected TV platform Sky, is expanding its kids shows on its on demand library by almost 600 per cent.

     

    From Adventure Time to Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and iCarly, Sky will offer plenty more kids TV on demand – with the number of episodes of family favourites increasing from 700 to around 4,000 over the coming months.

     

    The ambitious changes mean that Sky’s on demand service will be home to more episodes of the most-watched kids’ shows than any other provider – all ready to watch from one dedicated section on the Sky+ homepage for the first time.

     

    Connected customers will be able to watch previous series of The Octonauts exclusively on demand plus there will be even more episodes of popular series like SpongeBob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, Horrible Histories and Ben 10.

     

    The 600 per cent increase in programming follows a number of new deals signed with rights holders including Viacom and Turner that form part of a multi-million pound commitment to making Sky a leading destination for kids TV on demand.

     

    What’s more kids TV on demand will be available at no extra cost to customers with the Variety and Family bundles.

     

    Sky brand director – TV products Luke Bradley-Jones said, “I know from my own kids that they just want to watch their favourite TV characters including Ben and Dora whenever they can. And parents want the convenience of a quick and simple way to access lots of episodes all in one place. That’s why we’re massively expanding the variety and number of shows available on demand – and putting them front and centre of the Sky+ TV Guide. For our customers it means a huge library of kids shows, all there at the touch of a button.”

     

    Sky customers will be able to quickly access this huge library of on demand kids TV straight from the Sky+ homepage as part of the latest update to customers’ Sky+HD boxes rolling out from this week. A new tile will open up a one-stop-shop of all the kids shows and movies available on demand, all kids TV recordings, plus a quick view of what’s on now on linear channels like CBeebies and Nick Jr.

     

    Sky, which has almost seven million customers in Britain and Ireland on its on demand services, saw downloads of on demand shows and movies touching over 300 million in the last three months, up by more than 60 per cent year on year.