EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Consumer Products & Experiences Announces New Appointments

New executives announced among global leadership team.

February 2, 2023

Paramount logo.Paramount

has announced new appointments and expanded responsibilities for three executives – Jose Castro, Jamie Drew and Kedar Nadkarni – now responsible for consumer products across all markets outside of the United States.

“We are evolving the structure of the Consumer Products & Experiences leadership team to support our strategy of a global vision with local market expertise,” says Pam Kaufman, president and chief executive officer, International Markets, Global Consumer Products & Experiences, Paramount. “Jose, Jamie and Kedar have shown outstanding leadership across their respective divisions. This new structure sets the foundation across our business to accelerate growth on a global scale, align with opportunities around global content and streaming and continue our emphasis on culture.”

New appointments and responsibilities for the evolved Consumer Products & Experiences global leadership team include:

Jose Castro

is now executive vice president, global collaborations, EMEA

licensing and U.S. softlines, Consumer Products & Experiences, Paramount. In this role, Castro will add oversight of the European markets to his remit with Felix Ruoff, vice president, retail sales consumer products, North, Central and Eastern Europe, and Simon Leslie, vice president, licensing, Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, now reporting to him. Castro’s recent oversight of the softlines business saw the category grow by over 20% by identifying licensing opportunities within the expanded Paramount portfolio, leveraging larger partnerships with licensees and manufacturers and unlocking new product executions. Additionally, Castro oversees all of Paramount’s co-branded product collaborations globally with renowned designers, fashion brands, celebrities and artists, along with the consumer products at Paramount’s hotels, tours and theme parks, as well as Paramount’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce business.

Jamie Drew

is now executive vice president, U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and LATAM, Consumer Products & Experiences, Paramount. With this appointment, Drew will expand her market leadership to include the U.K., Ireland, Israel, Australia and New Zealand in addition to her current responsibilities overseeing the Canada and Latin America Consumer Products businesses. Venetia Davie, vice president, U.K., Ireland, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, will now report to Drew. Drew’s approach to building market-specific and scalable strategies, coupled with her inclusive leadership style, creativity and global mindset has translated to double-digit revenue growth across the regions in her purview.

Kedar Nadkarni

is now executive vice president, strategy, finance and licensing, Consumer Products & Experiences, for Paramount, adding licensing in Asia and VidCon to his responsibilities. Jennifer Pang, vice president, licensing, Asia, will now dual report to Nadkarni and Catherine Park, senior vice president, head, streaming, Asia. Colin Hickey, senior vice president, operations, VidCon, and Sarah Tortoreti, senior vice president, marketing and communications, VidCon, will report to Nadkarni directly. Nadkarni has transformed the finance and operations divisions of the Consumer Products & Experiences business and established long-range plans that will deliver consistent growth year over year.