The Digital Entertainment Group International (DEGI) July 5 confirmed a new line-up for its Board of Directors, with Joe Braman, VP of international account management at NBCUniversal, and Ruth Sharp, VP and head of digital distribution at Warner Media UK and Ireland, both joining as Co-Chairs, effective immediately.
The DEGI exists to support and enhance the home entertainment industry, driving consumer engagement with new and emerging technologies across an increasing number of international territories.
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Braman and Sharp join the board amid a year that has seen the DEGI successfully implement territory-first activations, including Mega Movie Week Germany and the Nordic Hitlist weekly film chart, among other promotions.
Braman and Sharp join Amy Jo Smith as director, and Liz Bales as CEO, and will lead the charge on growing value for DEGI members, while driving a category-level strategy for market growth.
“With so much change in windowing and access to content, DEGI plays a vital role in bringing key stakeholders together to drive industry collaboration and category growth,” Braman said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with Ruth, Liz and Amy Jo to continue the great work DEGI have delivered to date.”
“As the digital entertainment world changes faster than ever before … providing a forum for creating growth strategies and sharing insights, it’s exciting to be working with the DEGI group to extend our activations and grow consumer engagement in the category,” Sharp said.
Braman and Sharp take over from previous co-chairs, Chris Duffy and Nicola Pearcey. Duffy, formerly head of insight and planning at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, is departing the DEGI having made invaluable contributions to the market-shifting activations delivered by the DEGI team over the past few years. Pearcey steps down as co-chair after 10 years, and has steered the organization from its European roots to an international presence, and pioneered DEGI’s Future Building program.
Stepping down as president of Lionsgate U.K. and setting up new venture Picnik Entertainment, Pearcy will move into a senior independent director role on the board, bringing vital insight from the independent production community.
Speaking about the future of the DEGI, CEO Liz Bales said the strength and diversity of the DEGI board spans production, distribution and retail delivering value for stakeholders across the category.
“We are excited to be working such exceptional talent and extend a warm welcome to Joe and Ruth as co-chairs, and we look forward to benefiting from the collective experience and input of the board as we drive our next projects,” she said.