UPDATED earlier exclusive, with quotes :: It’s official. David Eilenberg returns to the buyer.
ITV America’s chief creative officer joins Roku as head of the originals.
ilenberg will join in April and report to Rob Holmes, vice president of programming at Roku.
This comes as the streaming service increases the amount of exclusive and original content it develops and commissions.
Last year, Roku acquired Quibi’s original library and launched dozens of short programs on The Roku Channel, including a number that was never launched in the service run by Jeffrey Katzenberg. He also resumed a number of shows for a second season.
But outside of the deal with Quibi, the service, which essentially started as a streaming aggregator, has plans to further strengthen its original series and movies with plans to order about 50 series and movies over the next two years.
He released his first feature film in December, Zoe’s Extraordinary Christmas, a sequel to the canceled NBC series, and earlier this week unveiled plans for an exclusive second window, after Spectrum Originals, for Nick Stoller’s drama Panhandle and Carla Ketner of Florida.
Roku has also been recruiting for the past 18 months; Deadline revealed last year that it had hired two Quibi executives – Colin Davis was elected head of Scripted Originals and Brian Tannenbaum was head of Alternative Originals.
Hiring Eilenberg is a great calling card for the service, especially from a country without scripts. As the CCO of ITV America, he oversees creative strategy in a number of production banners and genres. Prior to that role, he was president of ITV Entertainment, where he produced Quef Eye on Netflix, Love Island and Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen.
Prior to joining ITV, he was SVP, Unscripted Development, Late Night and Turner Specials, watching TNT and TBS series, including King of the Nerds, Cold Justice and Howie Mandel’s Deal with It, and Conan.
He has also worked for Mark Burnett Productions as Head of Development and Current Programming, where he has helped sell, develop and produce series including The Voice, Shark Tank, The Bible and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? He also co-wrote the first incarnation of The Weakest Link and Sasha Baron Cohen’s Da Ali G show.
“Throughout his remarkable career, David has pioneered captivating television that has resonated with audiences around the world,” said Holmes. “With millions of streamers demonstrating a strong appetite for original programming on The Roku Channel, this is the perfect time to meet one of the most experienced and respected creative executives in the business to watch the next exciting phase for Roku Originals, while helps us further establish The Roku Channel as a destination for consumers to watch great free original programming and for advertisers to reach a large audience only available in streaming. ”
“I am excited and proud to be involved in leading Roku Originals during this incredibly dynamic phase of its development,” Eilenberg added. “Roku’s culture of innovation and relentless focus on creating the best possible experience for viewers make it a natural home to launch great original series, and I look forward to finding and nurturing these series under Rob’s leadership and the exemplary team he created. I am also extremely grateful to David George, Adam Cher, Daniel Bibo and all of my colleagues at ITV America for their amazing six years of teamwork and creativity, and I look forward to staying in business together in my new capacity. ”
ITV America CEO David George wished Eilenberg all the best. “All of us at ITV America are sincerely happy for David and we know that he will lead the Roku programs with his characteristic creativity, sharp wit and distinctive point of view. It is always difficult to say goodbye to a close colleague, but we know that our friendship and partnership will continue in an exciting new way. They are lucky to have him and we wish him all the best. ”