In her new role, Brown will lead the studio’s continued growth and diversified commercial business in North America and LatAm. The studio also announced the promotion of Tara Maitra to Chief Commercial Officer, Global Distribution.
Following a record year for BBC Studios, the company announced two strategic appointments that position the commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group for continued success. Janet Brown joins the company as president, Content Distribution, North America and Latin America (LatAm), while Tara Maitra has been promoted to chief commercial officer, Global Distribution. Brown and Maitra will be based in New York and report directly to Rebecca Glashow, CEO, Global Distribution.
Brown joins BBC Studios from Gunpowder & Sky, an independent entertainment studio. In her new role, Brown is charged with creating a vision and setting strategic direction to drive continued growth across BBC Studios diversified commercial business in North America and LatAm. This role includes all aspects of the content distribution business, as well as leading the company’s global distribution relationships with the top U.S. based partners, including networks and streaming platforms, and developing innovative new business solutions to deliver growth.
She joined Gunpowder & Sky in 2016, when she negotiated the sale of Cinetic Rights Management/FilmBuff to the company. As EVP of Global Distribution and Commercial Operations at Gunpowder, Brown led sales, marketing, and distribution for the studio on original, co-produced and acquired titles. Brown also oversaw the commercial growth and expansion of Gunpowder’s consumer-facing genre brands, DUST and ALTER, across all touchpoints including social channels, FAST and audio. Prior to that, as CEO of FilmBuff, Brown handled the worldwide distribution of over 1500 critically acclaimed titles, including theatrical, digital, linear television, international sales, and festival strategy. Brown – a graduate of Columbia Business School, with an MBA in media and marketing – also held strategic consulting positions with Yahoo! and Accenture earlier in her career.
“Janet is a proven dealmaker across content distribution spanning all formats and genres, and I’m thrilled to be adding her to our team. North America and LatAm are very strong, growing markets for BBC Studios, and we have only begun to tap into our potential,” said Glashow. ”She joins a group of exceptionally talented executives, including Tara, whose new responsibilities reflect the growing global demand for our content, and the broad array of new opportunities and partnerships we continue to explore around the world.”
Maitra joined the company in January 2021 as chief commercial officer, BBC Studios – Americas, and her promotion now charges her with oversight for global syndication and advertising sales, including BBC Studios’ digital news properties and the World News TV channel (ex-UK and Ireland); business transformation and digital business development. With the creation of this new position, global syndication and advertising sales are now brought together for the first time under one leader to unlock further growth.
Prior to BBC Studios, Maitra was the chief revenue officer at BDEX, a data exchange platform designed to help companies identify target audiences, where she oversaw revenue growth, business development, and marketing efforts. She also spent 11 years at TiVo holding various leadership roles, including as the executive overseeing TiVo’s content strategy, media insights, and data solutions for the advertising industry. Before TiVo, Maitra held executive roles at Comcast, Primedia, and NBC.
Janet Brown – President, Content Distribution, North America and Latin America said: “I have had the opportunity to spend the last 15 years working with some of the most fearless, ambitious and enterprising independent entertainment companies in the business. I am honoured to now have the chance to take that intrepid spirit to BBC Studios. BBC Studios’ roster of deeply resonant IP, its far-flung network of creator and buyer relationships, and its unparalleled ties into the rich British talent heritage in front and behind the camera are all pretty incredible. The company is only just beginning to bring these assets to the broader North American & Latin American market and I couldn’t be more excited to help grow the brand and the company on this side of the pond!”
Tara Maitra – Chief Commercial Officer, Global Distribution: “When I joined BBC Studios, I had a good understanding of the status and reputation of the BBC brand, but the past year and a half has been eye-opening in terms of not only our unmatched contributions to the global media ecosystem, but the countless opportunities to grow our reach around the world. I am grateful to be working alongside a talented team of executives as my role expands.”
