Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand licensing arm of Starz, elevated two key executives with the promotions of Mara Winokur to the position of senior vice president, digital media, business development and strategy at Starz Media, a position that makes her the new head of the division, and David Katz, to vice president, digital media with new and expanded business responsibilities.
Press Release from Starz Digital Media
New York, NY – September 7, 2011 – Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand licensing arm of Starz, elevated two key executives with the promotions of Mara Winokur to the position of senior vice president, digital media, business development and strategy at Starz Media, a position that makes her the new head of the division, and David Katz, to vice president, digital media with new and expanded business responsibilities. The announcement was made by Ed Huguez, executive vice president, affiliate sales and marketing for Starz. Winokur, who served previously as vice president, digital media and business development, will oversee the entire Starz Digital Media division and the digital initiatives supporting its various film, television and digital-only content properties. Winokur and her team will manage digital distribution, licensing, syndication, content and vendor partnerships with a wide array of partners and distributors ranging from traditional cable/satellite/telco multichannel video affiliates to internet/mobile distributors to game and social media developers/publishers to consumer electronics partners. The video content they distribute and market ranges from theatrical features to short-form animation from each of Starz’ various business units including: Starz Entertainment (pay television), Anchor Bay Entertainment (home entertainment), Manga Entertainment (Japanese Anime) and Film Roman (animation).
Starz Digital Media’s David Katz was also promoted to vice president, digital media from his previous position serving as executive director. Katz’ new position expands his role by including responsibilities for product development, partner relationships, and global multiplatform marketing across all business models. He will continue to oversee the creation, development, and execution of Starz Digital Media digital extensions and extractions, including originals, apps, and games, by leveraging proprietary and licensed Starz content and distributing it to Internet and mobile partners.
“Starz Digital Media is in very capable and creative hands with Mara and David and I congratulate them on their respective promotions,” said Huguez. “The Digital group has been a source of great energy, solid business performance, and terrific innovation through its development of leading edge properties, such as the ‘Spartacus’ Facebook game. Media properties, such as these, build synergy with our originals and create ancillary revenue opportunities for the company.”
Prior to joining Starz Digital Media, Winokur was the Senior Director of Digital Business Development at EMI Music Entertainment. In this role, Winokur led the team responsible for evaluating business proposals; structuring and negotiating deal terms; and executing agreements in the online and mobile spaces. She also analyzed developing digital trends and advised on new product strategies and business models. Before her position at EMI, Winokur was a Director of New Technology Business Development at Sony BMG Entertainment. Winokur has also worked in New Media Strategy at The McGraw-Hill Companies, Strategic Alliances at Palm, Inc., and has consulted with several Silicon Valley companies. Winokur received her MBA with honors in Strategy and Finance from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and her BA in Communications and Psychology from Stanford University.
Katz joined Starz from Young & Rubicam/VML, where he managed their NY digital group. Prior to joining Young & Rubicam, Katz was a digital strategist for the San Francisco based Thoughtpod. He received his MBA with honors in Media, Entertainment, and Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business and his BA in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
About Starz Digital MediaStarz Digital Media, an operating division of Starz Media, LLC, is responsible for all digital and on-demand distribution of content from Anchor Bay Entertainment, Starz Originals from Starz Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, and other select entertainment providers. Through a range of distribution and marketing partnerships with multichannel video providers, Internet distributors and wireless operators worldwide, Starz Digital Media makes its content available under numerous business models including download-to-own/electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, subscription video-on-demand and ad-supported streaming. The division also programs and supports numerous ad-supported broadband channels and develops games, applications and other related content from many of its properties for distribution worldwide.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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