MarVista Dives into Digital

MarVista Entertainment is expanding its distribution capabilities with the launch of a new digital entertainment division to sell its original and acquired content to digital platforms throughout North America.

MarVista Digital Entertainment will sell its content pipeline of original in-house productions, co-productions and third-party acquisitions across cable, satellite, telco, broadband and consoles.

The company’s original productions include more than 150 movies that have been sold to premier U.S. and international channels and MarVista is aiming to further its position as an aggregator of third-party programming that it will supply to U.S. digital outlets.

MVDE will bring to the marketplace curated monthly program slates, with a steady output of at least two new release titles and at least three catalog titles of family, teen and tween content. Additionally, one new release music special/documentary will premiere each quarter offering an intimate look at some of today’s hottest artists including One Direction, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Madonna and more.

MVDE will launch Aug. 1 with the release of the teen comedy “Zapped,” starring Zendaya, which made its world debut on Disney Channel on June 27, followed by its digital debut on June 28 on iTunes. 

“Over the past several years we have amassed a significant catalog of over 2,000 hours of top-notch content, and our strategic plan for the future is to accelerate our level of investment in original and acquired content,” says Fernando Szew, chief executive officer, MarVista Entertainment. “At this juncture, the timing is right for MarVista to capitalize on opportunities in the digital space by creating an in-house division to proactively build relationships with the established and emerging digital platforms across North America, and to do this, we have made a sizeable investment in our operations and human resources.” 

The new division, to be helmed by executive vice president of distribution, Vanessa Shapiro.

Scott Kirkpatrick, who joined the company in 2012, will transition into the new role of director of distribution for MVDE, responsible for securing new distribution agreements and leveraging the company’s existing digital clients and platform relationships in an effort to grow and manage the unit’s distribution business.

Rebecca Shipley joins MarVista Entertainment as manager of digital distribution for MVDE. Shipley will manage MarVista’s digital content and programming slate and promotion strategies for MVDE.  Shipley will also have the responsibility for identifying and acquiring titles to exploit across VOD and other digital platforms.