Rovio Hires Former Marvel Studios Chairman

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgPress Release from Rovio

Rovio has announced that David Maisel is becoming a Special Advisor to Rovio. In his previous role as Chairman of Marvel Studios and EVP, Office of Chief Executive at Marvel Entertainment, David transformed Marvel Entertainment by launching Marvel Studios and its first self-produced and self-financed films including Iron Man. He also most recently led the sale of Marvel Entertainment to Disney.

As a Special Advisor to Rovio, David will help build the company’s entertainment strategy and transition Rovio to new areas in the entertainment business. He also plans to serve as Executive Producer of future Angry Birds films.

“David was instrumental in rebooting Marvel Studios and turning it into a blockbuster-producing powerhouse,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “We welcome his experience and vision as we continue broadening our entertainment production scope at Rovio.”

David Maisel joined Marvel Entertainment in 2003. He was the architect of the strategy to launch the film studio, secured the related financing and distribution and set the stage for the studio to produce a string of box office hits. David is the Executive Producer of the films Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger.

A graduate of Duke University with an MBA from Harvard Business School, David has previously worked in senior positions with Creative Artists Agency, The Walt Disney Company, and William Morris Endeavor, among others.

“I’m very honored and excited to join Rovio, and my goal is to help unleash its great potential,” said David Maisel. “Rovio has already had amazing success and established a great brand with Angry Birds. The business model, intellectual properties, and the franchise potential of Angry Birds give Rovio the most exciting prospects I have seen in the entertainment business since Marvel in 2003.”

Of note, earlier this month, Rovio announced the acquisition of Kombo, a leading Finnish animation studio, to expand its in-house animation capabilities. Rovio will continue to expand in all areas of entertainment business, and the company is on the lookout for more talent in both animated entertainment and application development.

Angry Birds was launched on in December 2009, Angry Birds Seasons in October 2010 and Angry Birds Rio in February 2011. Since their release, the games have achieved more than 250 million combined downloads across all platforms. Most recently, Rovio launched launched the "Mine & Dine" update for Angry Birds, "Summer Pignic" for Angry Birds Seasons and "Carnival Upheaval" for Angry Birds Rio. The company also recently introduced Angry Birds on the web with Google Chrome, and announced their book publishing plans and the first print publication.

Rovio raised a $42mm Series A investment in March 2011 from leading venture capital firms Accel Partners and Atomico Ventures, with plans to accelerate growth in international expansion and broad scale entertainment franchise development beyond mobile games.