Amazon CMO Buzz; Disney Writer Clause
➕ courting Courtenay Valenti; CAA erases last sign of ICM
The Warner Bros. diaspora past and present continue to roil the rumor mill.
Within days of dream candidate Dan Lin not making it to the finish line as the new head of DC, Warners’ former president of worldwide marketing, Sue Kroll, is the talk of the town as whispers abound she is going to fill the vacant marketing chief seat at Amazon Studios. The Ankler has learned that conversations between the studio and Kroll, a consultant who was brought in to juice the splashy rollout of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, have occurred — but that talks are preliminary with nothing close to closing. (Amazon did not respond to requests for comment; Kroll was not available for comment.)
Kroll, who headed up Warners’ international marketing efforts from 2001-2008 then worldwide from 2008-2018 during one of the most successful runs in the studio’s storied history, has been working as a producer for the past four years on such films as Birds of Prey and A Star Is Born. Her Kroll & Co. Entertainment production company has its own staff, and also several projects in development.
Kroll is the latest former Warners executive to be aggressively courted by rival studios and production companies given the dearth of seasoned executives in Hollywood. Former Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov has been in negotiations to run Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s revamped production company, currently sealing a deal for major backing from RedBird Capital. And production president Courtenay Valenti, who announced she was leaving the studio last week after a three-decade run, is being wooed by