Legendary Television launches worldwide distribution division
April 22, 2014
Legendary Entertainment has announced a key step in the ongoing development of its television studio, forming a new global television distribution division that will be headed by veteran television distribution executive Michael Grindon.
Reporting to Bruce Rosenblum, President of Legendary Television and Digital Media, Grindon will be charged with building and operating a global distribution infrastructure, and hiring and overseeing a team of executives to handle the sales, marketing and servicing of all Legendary Television programming, in all media, around the world.
Legendary Television has now strengthened its overall business model with the capacity to develop, finance and self-distribute its product on a global basis. Under Grindon, Legendary Worldwide Distribution will also be looking to handle international television distribution for other independent television production companies.
In making this announcement, Rosenblum said, “Legendary is well-positioned and ready to take this next step in the expansion of our global television studio infrastructure, and Michael is the perfect partner to execute on this vision with us. He has successfully operated at the highest levels of the international marketplace and acutely understands the shifting landscape. I’m confident he’ll build a nimble and innovative infrastructure that will enable Legendary to deliver on its promise of producing and distributing quality television content on a worldwide basis.”
“Bruce and his team have very quickly built Legendary into a powerful presence in the television production sector, and I look forward to helping establish a distribution platform that can augment its global presence and brand,” Grindon said. “We are going to build a worldwide TV distribution operation, territory by territory, that balances our experience at the major-studio level with a clear understanding of our client’s needs, in all media, in this rapidly evolving television environment.”
Grindon most recently oversaw Grindon Media, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in media distribution and television production. Michael Grindon has worked with a number of production companies including Media Rights Capital, where he assisted with the international distribution of “House of Cards.”
For over 15 years, Grindon served as President of Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI), a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. While at Sony, Grindon managed the distribution of all SPE feature films and television programming to television, mobile and digital content delivery outlets outside the United States; local television production in all international markets; and the establishment and growth of all of Sony’s international television networks. Under his leadership at Sony, annual division revenues grew from less than $100 million to over $2.0 billion.
Grindon holds a BA degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He serves on several boards and charitable foundations, including the Vijay Amritraj Foundation. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College.
Late last year Legendary acquired Asylum Entertainment, a leading production company known for creating and producing hundreds of hours of popular scripted, non-scripted and sports documentary programming for major cable networks.