GoDigital has hired former Focus Features executive Kent Sanderson to run its distribution and merchandising divisions, the company said Monday.
Sanderson will soon head to the Sundance Film Festival to acquire films for GoDigital, which distributes films via video-on-demand and digital platforms like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Much of Sanderson’s job will be overseeing GoDigital relationships with cable and satellite companies, and digital storefronts.
Past GoDigital releases include “She wants me,” a comedy starring Josh Gad, and “The Punk Syndrome,” a film about Finish punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät that screened at South by Southwest last year.
Sanderson joins GoDigital from the recently reshuffled Focus Features, where he was head of alternative content and distribution. He developed an alternative label focused on video-on-demand, Focus World, and and helped to acquire, market and distribute films such as “We Steal Secrets,” Alex Gibney’s documentary about WikiLeaks, and “The World’s End,” Edgar Wright’s follow-up to “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.”
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Sanderson will report to GoDigital founder and CEO Logan Mulvey.
“Kent is a strategic thinker in all aspects of film distribution; we are proud to have secured his talents as one of the premiere executives in digital distribution,” Mulvey said in a statement. “Together, we look forward to discovering the best in fiction and non-fiction film and sharing those works with global audiences.”
GoDigital raised money last April to help its expansion.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at GoDigital at this exciting moment of change, both for them and the industry at large,” Sanderson said in a statement. “I look forward to jumping in and building upon the great work they’ve done in the past few years.”