Roku’s Splashy Hire Of Veteran TV Exec Charlie Collier Highlights Company’s Bet On Original Programming
deadline.comRoku’s splashy hire of Charlie Collier, former CEO of Fox Entertainment and president of AMC, has sent a clear signal about the company’s ambition to make more noise with original programming.The question now among Wall Streeters and industryites: Exactly how noisy will Roku try to get, and at what cost?
And what’s a pure-play tech firm doing in the Hollywood sandbox anyway, at a time when other distributors are withdrawing from the pricey content game?Collier will officially join the fold next month in New York, shortly before the debut of Roku’s biggest original yet, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
The $12 million non-biopic, starring Danielle Radcliffe, will land on the Roku Channel on November 4 after a festival run beginning with its well-received world premiere this month in Toronto.As the new head of Roku Media, Collier is coming in to oversee advertising and programming, and his appointment was accompanied by promotions for Mustafa Ozgen and Gidon Katz, to oversee devices and consumer experience, respectively.
The three execs will report to Roku CEO and founder Anthony Wood. There’s been some room in the top ranks of the company in recent months after the exit of Scott Rosenberg after a nearly 10-year run building the company’s platform business.While it didn’t generate the same headlines as the Collier move, Roku earlier this year turned a number of industry heads by installing ITV and Turner vet David Eilenberg as head of originals.
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