Originally published in the Feb. 8, 2024 edition of The Weekly Briefing
Ronnie Stanton has joined Virgin Radio International as Chief Content Officer. Stanton, who left Corus Entertainment in December, will be working with the Virgin Radio brand in Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Oman, Romania, Lebanon, and the UAE. The veteran programmer had most recently held the title of Vice-President, Audio at Corus, in charge of its 39 FM and AM radio stations, as well as the Curiouscast Podcast Network. Read more here.
Mackay Taggart has been promoted at Global News to Director, Eastern Stations. Most recently, the Ontario Regional Director of News, he’ll now oversee the newsrooms at Global Montreal, Global Halifax, and Global New Brunswick, along with the four Global Ontario stations – Global Toronto, Global Durham, Global Kingston, and Global Peterborough – he currently manages. Sherri Clark, who has been in the Managing Editor role at Global Toronto for the past year, moves into the Global TO News Director role, bringing experience as the former News Director for Global Regina and Saskatoon, in addition to serving as Managing Editor in Calgary.
Gabriela Panza-Beltrandi has joined CTV Vancouver as a reporter. Panza-Beltrandi arrives from CBC, where she’s held various roles in both the Edmonton and Toronto newsrooms since 2021.
Scott Moore has been appointed CEO of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, leading delivery of the first-ever winter hybrid edition of the multi-sport event for serving armed forces personnel and veterans. The former President of Broadcasting and Sportsnet at Rogers Sports & Media, Moore also served as General Manager of Sports and Network Revenue at CBC. He joins the Invictus team prior to the One Year to Go Participating Nations Camp in Whistler and Vancouver which gives members of the international community a chance to experience winter adaptive sports ahead of next year’s games.
Vanessa Case has started a new position as Vice President of Content for Paramount+ and Pluto TV Canada. Case assumes the role previously held by Katrina Kowalski, who was promoted last fall to SVP, Content Programming & Acquisitions, Pluto TV International. Case arrives from VICE Media where she most recently held the title of SVP, Global Head of Unscripted Production. She’s also held roles with Blue Ant Media, Shaw and Canwest.
Greg Johnson has been appointed EVP Americas and Asia Pacific at Cineflix Rights. Reporting to CEO Tim Mutimer, L.A.-based Johnson will lead the distributor’s scripted and unscripted sales strategy across North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Working alongside James Durie, Head of Scripted and Richard Life, SVP Acquisitions and Co-productions, Johnson will also be responsible for identifying creative partners and IP, as well as securing financing from U.S. and global networks to package and greenlight projects through co-productions, pre-sales, and co-financing. Johnson will join Cineflix Rights in April from his current role of EVP, Distribution, Americas at ITV Studios.
Yoann Sauvageau has been named Director of TVA Films. Sauvageau previously worked in movie distribution with Alliance Films and Sony Pictures before joining Entertainment One in 2012 as Director, Theatrical Sales, in Quebec, with his role extended nationwide in 2019 when he became Vice President, Theatrical Sales, working with exhibitors across the country. In 2022, he moved to Maison 4:3 as Vice President of Sales.
A.J. Cote has joined Ottawa’s BIG JUMP Entertainment as EVP of Production and Operations. He’ll lead BIG JUMP’s pipeline and production strategies alongside Chief Creative Officer Cory Morrison. Cote arrives from Toon Boom Animation where he was most recently Director of Professional Services.
David Lazzarato has joined Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s Board of Directors as the newest independent member. He’s also been appointed Chair of the Strategic Advisory Committee. Lazzarato currently serves on the board of Dublin-based Flutter Entertainment’s and as Chair of its Risk and Sustainability Committee, and on Canopy Growth’s board and Chair of the Audit Committee. His career includes senior executive positions with Alliance Atlantis Communications, Allstream, Bell Canada and CAE.
Thomas Nelson has been promoted to Global Vice President of Key Accounts at Vizrt. With a focus on expanding the Americas’ market, Nelson will be responsible for key accounts as well as business development. Beginning his career at TV 2 Norway in sports production, he moved to Vizrt Australia in 2008 and has since held senior leadership positions in Asia Pacific and Europe before increasing his remit to the U.S. in 2023. His appointment comes after a period of transformation for Vizrt, including the unification of the organization’s product portfolio, bringing together its NewTek and Vizrt brands.
