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exclusive: justin wilkeschief strategy officer imagine entertainment and President of Imagine Documentaries and Brands, has been promoted to President of the company, led by Executive Chairman Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
Following Wilkes’ promotion, Sara Bernstein, co-president of documentaries, was named president of documentaries to lead the division.
In his new role, Wilkes will work closely with Imagine’s COO Steve Shikiya, Feature Films President Karen Lunder, Television President Kristen Zolner, Documentary President Bernstein, Executive Vice President of Brands Marc Gilbar and Jax Media President Brooke Posch, -Imagine A subsidiary of Entertainment. He will also continue to work with Alex Gibney and the teams at Jigsaw Productions.
Wilkes replaces Jax Media’s Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns, who left earlier this month After serving as the president of Imagine Entertainment for a year.
After the pair left Imagine and Jax (Hernandez as CEO, Burns as CCO) to co-found a new company, Imagine moved to exercise its purchase rights to the remaining 49% of Jax during the holidays.
Wilkes, the Oscar-nominated and multiple Emmy-winning producer who launched the Imagine Documentaries brand with Bernstein in 2018, has steadily taken on more management responsibilities within the parent company, most recently as Imagine and Partner at The Washington Post as chief strategy officer.
Over the past four years, Imagine Documentaries has built a presence in the premium unscripted business, garnering 14 Emmy nominations last year alone. Wilkes recently produced the acclaimed Imagine document, Louis Armstrong’s black and blue For Apple TV+ and Volcano: Rescue from Vakari, It was Netflix’s breakthrough this holiday season, ranking second on the streamer’s weekly global movie charts behind The Glass Onion: A Wilderness Mystery.
“Justin is the rare executive who excels at both the business and creative ambitions of the company. He has a clear direction for expansion potential and growth and has proven to be a strong producer and creative collaborator, With some of the most visionary talent in our business,” said Grazer and Howard. “We are delighted that he will be working with us and all of Imagine’s departments to maximize opportunities in line with the spirit in which we founded Imagine nearly 40 years ago, which has always been about telling important stories with cultural resonance”
In 2022, Imagine released 37 films and series across its divisions and subsidiaries, including Thirteen lives (Amazon), under heaven’s banner (forex), lucy and desi (Amazon), Jax Media’s emily in paris (Netflix) and Jigsaw Productions’ How to change your mind.
Upcoming projects include documentaries Personality Crisis: Only One Night from Martin Scorsese and Bono & The Edge: A Kind of Homecoming with Dave Lettermanfeature beanie bubble Eyeing Zach Galifianakis (AppleTV+) and the next installment of the anthology series Genius: MLK/X (Disney+).
“Together with Brian and Ron, we have the opportunity to capitalize on the full potential of the Imagine brand in the marketplace as a strong, independent, talent-friendly content studio with a luxurious pedigree,” said Wilkes. “Amidst the storm of industry-wide disruption, we will focus on our core business and position ourselves as a haven for talent, intellectual property and creativity.”
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