Foxtel/Binge Topper Amanda Laing Exiting
03.04.2024 - 10:49 / variety.com
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Marketing veteran Scott Donaton has joined VersusGame, an AI-powered interactive content company, as chief marketing officer. Donaton, most recently senior VP of marketing at Disney’s Hulu, will oversee all marketing functions for Versus, including brand strategy, communications, content, social media and consumer insights. Donaton had joined Hulu in 2019; he introduced the streaming industry’s first branded entertainment practice before exiting Hulu in the spring of 2023.
Prior to Hulu, Donaton served as global chief creative and content officer at ad agency Digitas. Earlier in his career, he was publisher of Entertainment Weekly, as well as editor and publisher of Advertising Age. Donaton currently serves on the board of directors of NPR.
“I’ve spent my career at the intersection of marketing, media, entertainment and technology, and Versus is pointing the way forward for all of those industries,” Donaton said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to officially join the Versus team as the company continues to revolutionize the way brands use content to engage fans while increasing revenue.” Also Wednesday, VersusGame announced the appointment of Elliot Solomon as VP of business development. Over his 20-year career, Solomon has built and led sales and business development teams at companies including Disney, Snap and Unity Technologies.
Founded in 2019, L.A.-based VersusGame says it uses “proprietary AI” to turn sites, apps, TV shows and podcasts into interactive experiences with questionnaires, surveys and polls. The company says partners include such brands as Disney, ABC, the NFL, Microsoft, Forbes, iHeartRadio, Lionsgate, UFC, USA Today, TMZ and the Grammys. “Scott’s experience working with
.Foxtel/Binge Topper Amanda Laing Exiting
Scott Disick is getting on top of his health after scaring fans and his loved ones.
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Katcy Stephan Tom Arnold (“True Lies,” “Roseanne”) has joined the cast of writer, producer, and director Rohit Karn Batra’s drama “The Gun on Second Street.” The film, for which Storyboard Media launched international sales during last year’s Cannes Film Market, is produced by Guy J. Louthan of Ransom Films (“The Call, The Road Within,” “There Be Dragons,”“From Scratch”) with Rikin Shah serving as one of the executive producers.
High street bargain retailer Poundstretcher, which has over 300 UK stores, has been sold to a US investment fund. The stores' new owner, Fortress Investment Group, previously bought out Majestic Wines and now also owns the bargain retailer, which has seven stores in Greater Manchester.
Katcy Stephan Emmy and Golden Globe winner Julia Garner is joining Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” as Shalla-Bal, a version of Silver Surfer from the Marvel comics. She will star alongside Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing).
The Tony award-winning play Our Town is getting another revival on Broadway!
EXCLUSIVE: Adriyan Rae lands recurring role on Netflix’s Forever created by Mara Brock Akil.
EXCLUSIVE: Aimee Carrero (The Menu) has joined the Jon Hamm-led Apple series Your Friends And Neighbors in a series regular role, sources close to production tell Deadline. Details regarding her character are under wraps.
Naman Ramachandran Amazon has struck a deal that will see premium Lionsgate and Starz programming made available to to MGM+ customers in the U.K. Lionsgate+ subscribers who joined via Prime Video Channels in the U.K.
EXCLUSIVE: American Born Chinese star Daniel Wu is set to join Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose in 87North’s With Love for Universal Pictures. The film Quan’s first starring role since winning the Supporting Actor Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
EXCLUSIVE: Alejandra Reyes, most recently a TV lit agent at UTA, is switching to management and joining 3 Arts Entertainment. She is bringing an expertise in the international space — focusing on Latin America and Spain — which she developed as an agent, introducing international writers and directors to the US market, attaching them to major series and closing first-look/overall deals for them. That includes a first-look deal with Onyx for The House of Flowers creator Manolo Caro and his production company Woo Films and an overall deal with Netflix for Chilean writer José Ignacio “Chascas” Valenzuela, creator, executive producer and showrunner of Who Killed Sara?
EXCLUSIVE: In his first major film project since leaving as Netflix Film boss, Scott Stuber has teamed with Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith Vein & Eric Robinson to make a film about The Boss. Scott Cooper is writing to direct Deliver Me From Nowhere, a narrative feature about Bruce Springsteen and the long effort to put together his seminal Nebraska album, which started to take shape as he and the E Street Band were laying down tracks for his massive hit album Born in the USA. It’s an adaptation of the Warren Zanes book published last year.
Audible is launching an investigative podcast series about the origins of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic character Jay Gatsby, subject of classic novel The Great Gatsby.