Condé Nast recruits for film push

Condé Nast is accelerating plans to launch films and TV shows based on its brands by hiring two senior executives to help develop projects produced by its entertainment division.

Vogue

The publisher’s entertainment division, which was formed last October, has hired Jeremy Steckler as executive vice president of motion pictures to develop and acquire film projects.

He was previously VP of production at film and television company Imagine Entertainment where he managed development for movies and TV-to-film adaptations. Steckler also worked on Black Swan, Juno and 500 Days of Summer at Fox Searchlight.

Michaal Klein, former VP at Sundance Channel, has been appointed as executive vice president of alternative programming. He has also worked as a programming executive at Discovery, TLC and Travel Channel.

Both will report to group president Dawn Ostroff, who joined from television network The CW last year to head the division.

Further senior appointments are expected over the coming months.

The division aims to create new content around its titles, such as a drama series around its flagship Vogue brand for example. It is hoped the entertainment group will reduce the company’s reliance on traditional advertising.

Meanwhile, Condé Nast’s in-house production department, which produces video content for the publisher’s websites and advertisers, is moving out of chief technology officer Joe Simon’s group and into Ostroff’s.

Rival publishers are also pursuing similar opportunities around TV and film as they look to offset declining print revenues. Hearst is readying two YouTube channels for its women’s titles and auto focused brands this month, while Playboy launched a TV drama series last year called The Playboy Club.

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