Soul Entertainment’s Chicken Soup, which completed its $375 million acquisition of Redbox earlier this month, has set up a new senior management roster for the combined company.
Former Redbox CEO Galen Smith was previously confirmed to be staying on after the deal. Smith is executive vice president of Seoul Entertainment’s Red Box and Chicken Soup, where he oversees long-term planning including strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate services.
Former EW Scripps executive Jonathan Katz was also announced as president of the combined company.
Both Smith and Katz will report to Bill Rouhana, CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
Many executives report directly to Smith. They include Peter Binazeski of SVP Corporate Communications. Chief Human Resources Officer Marisa Famulare. Chief Innovation Officer Jason Kwon; Chief Financial Officer Chris Mitchell; Chief Strategy Officer Elana Sofko. Chief Legal Officer Fred Stein.
Reporting to Katz is Michael Chamberlain, COO and President of Redbox. David Elender, CEO of the studio and head of Chicken Soup for Seoul Television Group. David Fannon Chief Acquisition and Distribution Officer. Chief Marketing Officer Mike Feldner. Philippe Guelton, Chief Revenue Officer; and Adam Motham, Chief Digital Officer.
Elllender will continue to lead the development and production of original content for all owned and operated platforms, including Redbox kiosks and streaming today, as well as third-party productions. Fanon will continue to oversee the acquisition and distribution of all domestic and international content, extending its reach to her Redbox and continuing her role as President of Screen Media Ventures.
Feldner will join the combined company in his Redbox role, leading the company’s analytics and insight activities, as well as all marketing, branding and creative services. Guelton expands his role to lead all advertising sales and operations and revenue partnerships across the company. Mosam adds oversight of the company’s streaming business, including product, technology and platform distribution.
“Our new senior leadership team brings together the best executives in the streaming and entertainment business and is poised for continued success,” said Rouhana. We have the knowledge, skills and drive to build a leading company that delivers the best entertainment to value-conscious consumers.”
Constantly punching above its weight, CSSE has grown into a quirky yet formidable presence in the ad-supported free streaming business. The company beat out a number of big prospective buyers to acquire his Crackle from Sony, as well as his Sonar Entertainment assets of Screen Media, 1091 Media and Robert Halmi Sr. It cultivated a roster of free streaming outlets like Popcornflix long before the industry’s general sentiment in favor of the potential of advertising as a primary revenue stream shifted more firmly.
CSSE shares are caught in crossfire, losing nearly a third of their value by 2022 as Wall Street debates streaming investment themes. It’s up more than 40% since it was announced. At noon today, trading volume was low, down 8% to take him to $10.50.