A+E Networks Ups Juliana Stock to Chief Marketing and Brand Officer

If there’s one good thing that can be said about the NFT boom (I know that’s a big “if”), it’s that it seems to have brought with it a lot of the dafter elements of artist-brand partnerships that I think we all thought had died years ago.You know, like giving celebs nonsense job titles. Surely that died with Justin Timberlake and MySpace? Well, arise Pharrell Williams, the new Chief Brand Officer at Doodles NFT.The non-fungible-Pharrell-hook-up was announced yesterday at crypto conference NFT.NYC, as Doodles also revealed that it has raised its first round of funding led by venture capital firm Seven Seven Six.

Baltimore Ravens star Jaylon Feguson has been pronounced dead at just 26 years old.

A shocking loss. Baltimore Ravens player Jaylon Ferguson died at the age of 26.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer HBO chief marketing officer Pamela Levine has been tapped as the new head of marketing for Disney Branded Television and National Geographic Content.Levine, who is replacing the recently exited Jayanta Jenkins, will lead an integrated internal agency across brand and creative marketing, strategy, publicity, media planning, digital/social, events, talent relations and awards, supporting content created for Disney+, as well as the Disney and National Geographic-branded linear networks, per Disney General Entertainment.In her new role, which she will begin June 27, Levine will jointly report to Disney Branded Television President Ayo Davis and National Geographic Content President Courteney Monroe. Levine’s direct reports include Chris Albert, executive vice president, Marketing and Publicity; Chris Spencer, executive vice president, Creative Marketing; Kristin Corrigan, senior vice president, Marketing Strategy; Jessica Bodaken, vice president, Marketing Production; Abby Ho, vice president, Social Media & Engagement Strategy; and Katie Morrow, vice president, Media Planning.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Silos Baking Competition” premiered to record-setting ratings for Magnolia Network Sunday, a turnout Chip and Joanna Gaines apparently saw coming a mile away, as their channel is already in pre-production on another baking competition series, Variety has learned exclusively.That unannounced baking competition is the first of several in the works at the cable channel, according to one source close to production.Simulcast across Food Network and Magnolia Network, a joint venture between the Gaineses and Warner Bros. Discovery, the one-hour premiere of “Silos Baking Competition,” which takes place at Chip and Jo’s Waco-based bakery, Silos Baking Co., drew more than 1.5 million viewers Sunday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney Branded Television has promoted Meredith Roberts to executive vice president of TV animation, the studio said Monday.The promotion comes for Roberts following “outstanding creative and operational oversight of the Disney Television Animation studio during a period of significant growth,” per Disney Branded TV.Most recently senior vice president/general manager of Television Animation at Disney Branded TV, Roberts has managed the division since  2018, overseeing development and current animated content and production for kids 6-14 and families, including traditional 2D and CG series, movies and shorts distributed on Disney+ and Disney Channel.The studio has 1,200 half-hours of animated content currently in production for Disney’s streaming and linear platforms, and during Roberts’ tenure in 2020, Disney Television Animation earned more Daytime Emmy Award nods than at any other point in its 38-year history. “A leader of incredible vision and a true champion of artistic talent, Meredith has set a new bar for Disney Television Animation, building upon the single greatest animation legacy in the world to lead a team that is creating the most innovative, magical animated storytelling in the business,” Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said during the announcement at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in Annecy, France on Monday.

Julian Casablancas has called The Smile’s set at this year’s Primavera Sound the “best show I’ve seen in years”.Radiohead and The Strokes were both performing last night (June 10) as part of the Barcelona festival’s second weekend.Casablancas shared a short video of The Smile – comprised of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner – playing on his Instagram page. “Had my fucking mind blown yesterday, best show i’ve seen in YEARS ……The Smile (Thom Yorke / Johnny Greenwood) – shiiiiiiit that was good,” he captioned the post.“Like modern phillip glass with best of Radiohead or something… idk,” he continued.

Eva Marcille had simple goals that proved lofty to achieve while filming  season 2: nap and relax.«I mean, let's just hang out and chill,» she says to ET of her mission ahead of arriving at Dorinda Medley's Massachusetts estate, Blue Stone Manor, for seven days of bonding time with her fellow (ex) 'Wives (filmed last fall). «However, when a Housewife gets with another Housewife, drama will soon ensue...»Joining Eva and Dorinda in the Berkshires for the week-long getaway (a follow-up to season 1's island adventure) were 's Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge, ' Taylor Armstrong and Brandi Glanville, plus The Real Housewives of New York City OG Jill Zarin and Eva's fellow former peach-holder, 's Phaedra Parks."Andy [Cohen, executive producer of the  franchise] actually calls me when I was on vacation and I had a couple cocktails, so I wasn't sure if he was telling me what I was hearing or if it was the alcohol talking, but he told me that I would be hosted by Dorinda and I would love her," Eva recalls.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Stranger Things” Season 4, Volume 1 has already smashed multiple Netflix viewership records in less than two weeks after its release, and anticipation for Volume 2’s July 1 launch is building more by the day. But the success of the streamer’s first-ever two-batch drop with just over a month in between releases does not mean Netflix is considering shaking up the “Stranger Things” model further ahead of its fifth and final season, meaning there are no plans to shift the Duffer Brothers series to a weekly release.“For the fans of ‘Stranger Things,’ this is how they’ve been watching that show, and I think to change that on them would be disappointing,” Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for U.S.

Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner Carol Burnett has joined the cast of Mrs. American Pie, the Apple comedy series starring Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Allison Janney, and Leslie Bibb, among others.

William Earl Amy Campbell has been promoted to chief marketing officer for MTV Entertainment Studios.Campbell’s promotion follows the departure of Jason White, who joined the Paramount Global division in April 2021.Campbell “is one of the smartest, hardest-working and most creative leaders in the industry,” Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios, wrote in a memo to staffers announcing Campbell’s promotion and White’s departure.“She has lived and breathed life into many of our biggest initiatives, from overseeing our biggest launches including ‘Yellowstone,’ ‘The Challenge’ and ‘South Park’ to delivering impactful pro-social campaigns like “Save Our Moms” (focused on maternal health), “+1 The Vote” (civic engagement) and “#AloneTogether” with The Ad Council (Covid/mental health),” McCarthy wrote. Campbell most recently served as executive vice presi]dent of marketing and brand creative.Campbell has been associated with MTV and its sibling networks for more than 20 years.

Juliana Stock, a 9-year veteran of A+E Networks, has been named the media company’s chief marketing and brand officer.

Thania Garcia Julian Casablancas, frontman and main songwriter of the Strokes, has sold a stake in his renowned Strokes catalog to Primary Wave.Primary Wave confirmed the purchase but declined to specify exactly how much of a stake in the catalog it had purchased or how much it paid in the deal. The sale gives the company access to tracks including platinum-certified hits “Last Nite,” “Someday” and “Reptilia.” The company also bought a stake in Casablancas’ publishing rights as well as the songs’ master rights.

The Strokes’ catalogue.According to Rolling Stone, The Strokes frontman has sold a portion of both publishing rights and masters rights to Primary Wave for an undisclosed sum.Primary Wave have not revealed whether Casablancas has retained a portion of his stake. The sale only includes Casablancas’ rights for The Strokes’ music, not his other projects, a Primary Wave representative told Rolling Stone.Casablancas is the latest musician to have made money in the music copyright sales world.

Randy Lewis Where to begin in assessing the multi-faceted life and career of Bob Neuwirth, the singer, songwriter, visual artist, mentor, creative catalyst, restless collaborator and provocateur who died May 18 in Santa Monica at 82?As good a starting point as any comes from three longtime friends and collaborators who agreed to share their reflections on Neuwirth’s legacy with Variety: multiple Grammy-winning  producer-songwriter-guitarist-singer T Bone Burnett, producer, songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Steven Soles and multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer David Mansfield.Typical of so many artists whose paths intersected with Neuwirth’s, the threesome entered his circle independently, but once there found common ground with one another. With significant credit going to his frequent role as instigator, they came together as the critically acclaimed Alpha Band in the late 1970s, and subsequently moved on to prolific solo careers.