Marvel Entertainment, Inc., a leading global character-based entertainment and licensing company, today announced the promotion of David Maisel, 43, to Vice-Chairman of its Marvel Studios division and Executive Vice President - Corporate Development of Marvel Entertainment. Mr. Maisel, who was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of the Marvel Studios division, will report directly to Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Maisel will be based in both the Beverly Hills and New York City offices of Marvel.
Earlier this month, Marvel completed a $525 million non-recourse debt financing for the production of up to ten films based on its famous characters.
Morton E. Handel, Chairman of the Board of Marvel Entertainment, stated,
"David has already dramatically enhanced our entertainment ventures with innovative structures that give Marvel substantial upside and control with minimal capital investment and economic risk to the company. This promotion will allow him to spend more time identifying and developing new initiatives to support the growth of the overall company and the value of the Marvel brand worldwide."
Avi Arad, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marvel Studios, stated,
"David's promotion is in recognition of the very significant contributions he has made since joining the company early last year. He not only negotiated and closed our recent film financing but conceived of the overall film slate and financing strategy as well. David was also the architect of our direct-to-DVD animated film business which was launched last year through our joint venture with Lions Gate. Both deals are transforming for Marvel."
Mr. Maisel has over 16 years of diverse entertainment industry experience. Following his graduation from Harvard Business School, Mr. Maisel served as a Manager in the entertainment and media practice of The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Maisel then joined Creative Artists Agency, working closely with CAA founder Michael Ovitz to facilitate deals like Matsushita's sale of MCA Universal to Seagram in 1995. He later joined The Walt Disney Company as Director of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning. Following his tenure at Disney, Mr. Maisel was named President of Livent, Inc., a theatrical production company, where he successfully piloted its restructuring and sale to SFX Entertainment, now part of Clear Channel. Mr. Maisel then served as Managing Director of Chello Broadband, one of Europe's largest broadband Internet companies. Prior to joining Marvel in January 2004, he headed Endeavor Talent Agency's Corporate Strategy and Business Development.
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