The H Collective, a film company announced in June that said it would be financing and/or producing four projects a year over the next four years from producers Sid and Nancy Hult Ganis, Mark Johnson and Joe Roth, today announced the appointment of Nic Crawley as CEO. Crawley most recently served as President of International Marketing and Distribution at Paramount Pictures but also had a long stint at Disney. Crawley starts in October.
The H Collective also said that the Chairman of the Chinese entertainment enterprise Beijing Culture Song Ge is now on the board.
The Chinese owner of The H Collective is controversial exec Jian-hua “Kenny” Huang who is heavily involved in HuaHua. The CEO of Huahua is Kefei Wang. Although Huang was a facilitator for Wang on most Paramount deals. HuaHua recently missed a first promised payment to Paramount parent Viacom as part of a $1B three-year deal with HuaHua and Shanghai Media Group (announced by the late Brad Grey, so yeah, it figures).
While at Paramount, Crawley oversaw the design, development and implementation of all international sales, distribution, marketing and advertising strategies for the studio’s international theatrical releases.
“After 37 years at major studios, I am incredibly proud to take on the role of CEO at H Collective, where my global experience will help grow this dynamic new company,” said Crawley. “We have ambitious plans to build the company quickly and strategically through our network of finance partnerships, forthcoming executive hires and creative collaborations with leading filmmakers delivering a first-class slate of movies.”
As President of International at Paramount, Crawley spearheaded international marketing efforts on many of Paramount’s most popular franchises, including Transformers, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and G.I. Joe series. He also oversaw the successful overseas campaigns for films including xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Jack Reacher, The Big Short, World War Z, Daddy’s Home, Noah, and Baywatch.
Crawley joined Paramount in December 2011 and prior to that worked at The Walt Disney Company starting in 1994, eventually serving as Senior VP, International Marketing for Walt Disney Motion Pictures.
“Nic brings with him a tremendous amount of experience and vast relationships within the global film marketplace,” said Johnson. “His candor and disarming charm are exactly what The H Collective needs as it moves forward. We all enthusiastically look forward to working with him.”
The H Collective’s upcoming slate of films include the fourth installment of the xXx film franchise, drama A Children’s Song, horror-thriller Raven Road, action-comedy White House Chef, and dramatic-thriller The Parts You Lose. The company recently announced an exclusive partnership with Beijing Culture, an entertainment conglomerate in China, securing the North and South American rights to three films including Wolf Warrior 2, the most successful movie in Chinese box office history, and the first and only non-Hollywood film ever to be included in the list of 100 all-time highest-grossing films worldwide.
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