Genius Brands consolidates the management of its expanding distribution business with the appointment of content sales and acquisitions veteran, Caroline Tyre. Tyre will oversee global content sales as the senior vice-president of international distribution. She will also spearhead the ongoing digital growth as head of the Genius Brands Network. In her new role, Tyre will report to Genius Brands Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward.
Tyre will be responsible for all aspects of Genius Brands’ global distribution business, including content sales for the company’s library of children’s programming such as Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, which will be on offer for the first time at this year’s MIP Junior market; Nick Jr’s Rainbow Rangers; the Netflix Original preschool series Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner; Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club; toddler brand Baby Genius; adventure comedy series Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab; and a slate of projects currently in development.
She will also lead the continued expansion of the Genius Brands Network. The network is comprised of Kid Genius Cartoon Channel and Baby Genius TV and is distributed across multiple OTT platforms as both ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and subscriber video-on-demand (SVOD) services that includes Amazon Prime, Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Cox, Tubi, and Xumo. The Genius Brands Network currently reaches 80 million U.S. households with continued expansion planned both in the U.S. and internationally.
Heyward said, “2019 and 2020 are pivotal years for Genius Brands with the global rollout of our flagship brands, and the development of new properties to take to market. Caroline offers extensive 360-degree expertise in the content industry with a keen insight into the dynamics of the ever-evolving children’s media landscape, and she will be instrumental in building existing relationships and forging new ones with broadcasters and platforms around the world to launch our properties into the marketplace.”
“It is an honor to join Genius Brands to be an integral part of the executive team as the company is poised to grow exponentially this year, particularly with the international debut of Rainbow Rangers, as well as the introduction at MIPJr. of Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten to potential partners around the globe,” said Tyre. “This is truly an exciting time to be part of what Andy and his team have been building over the past five plus years, and I look forward to lending my expertise to take the company’s content distribution to the next level.”
Tyre, a 20-year industry veteran, has been involved with a wide range of positions within the entertainment industry from acquisitions and programming to distribution and licensing. Prior to joining Genius Brands, she served as vice-president, sales and acquisitions for AuxMode, a global MCN with more than 2,000 channels worldwide that are generating upwards of 2 billion views per month. Her work with networks and studios has included pivotal positions in sales and acquisitions at other top-tier companies such as Spin Master, Entertainment One, DHX Media, the CBC, and TELETOON, where she spent six years as the director of programming.