Endemol North America poaches Maker Studios exec, Will Keenan, to lead new digital venture
Endemol North America, the independent television and digital studio, has named Will Keenan, who was until recently a vice president at Maker Studios, as president, Endemol Beyond USA, the newly created digital venture in the US.
Effective immediately, Keenan will oversee the launch of Endemol Beyond, which aims to create a premium network of international and local channels across such platforms as YouTube, Yahoo, AOL, MSN and Dailymotion.
Endemol is spending an initial $40.3m on the venture, which will invest in high-end original productions for the channels and will also acquire third-party programming across a number of genres including comedy, entertainment, fashion and film.
He reports to Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin, co-CEOs and chairmen, Endemol North America, who commented: “We admire the innovation that digital entrepreneurs like Keenan are bringing to this space. He is a creative and bold visionary and the right choice to lead our premium channel network in the US.”
Keenan joins from Maker Studios, one of the largest multi-channel networks on YouTube, where he was vice president of vertical development and network programming, a position he held for only a few months. However, during his two-year stint with the company, he established partnerships with Hollywood talent including Margaret Cho, Adrian Grenier, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Kevin Smith, among others, helping to grow the network into a multi-million dollar operation.
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