EXCLUSIVE: Nick and Jon Hamm’s Free Turn Entertainment has appointed streaming trade veteran Ron Downey as its Chairman.
Downey, the co-founder of streaming expertise supplier Massive Interactive, joins quickly after Free Turn accomplished a spherical of funding that’s already allowed it to scale its TV and movie improvement plans and add The Story Lab’s Robbie Ashcroft and Emma Lamont to its ranks.
Free Turn expects Downey to offer it expertise in fundraising, leisure expertise and distribution, plus know-how in rising companies.
Downey bought Massive Interactive to Deltatre for $127M in 2018. He had co-founded the enterprise in Sydney, Australia 23 years earlier than and constructed it right into a digital improvement company that created content material and software program expertise for manufacturers reminiscent of AT&T, DAZN, WWE, Sony, Bell Media and the entire UK’s terrestrial networks.
“I’m here to help build a powerhouse of creativity with the Free Turn team and to create some beautiful work along the way,” he mentioned. “Free Turn is a premium IP and content-rich enterprise with the aptitude and management to translate this throughout codecs, so when this chance took place, I jumped at it.
“The team is a brilliant mix of experienced leaders and innovative thinkers who all truly love what they do. The development and production roster for 2023 is rich and diverse in both theme and format, and I’m confident that we have some great stories in the making.”
Jon Hamm, CEO of Free Turn, added: “Ron has a rebellious spirit that works perfectly for the culture at Free Turn. He supports us in taking risks, challenging financial models and pushing new creative ideas. He has come into the company with a single minded belief in developing and owning IP and maximising the commercial potential of it across as many platforms as possible. With Ron’s support we have solidified our plans for IP development and have put in place an exciting strategy for the next 18 months”
The Hamm brothers and ex-WPP exec Gemma Batterby arrange Free Turn in 2020 and has targeted on cross platform leisure that maximizes inventive and industrial potential. Deadline understands it has a number of high-profile initiatives in improvement in TV and movie, for the likes of Audible, Amazon and ITV Studios within the UK and U.S.
In 2022, the corporate launch Nick Hamm’s Gigi and Nate, which starred Oscar Winner Marcia Gay Harden.
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