WBITD Promotes Two Sales Execs

BURBANK: Roni Patel has been named VP of sales for Scandinavia, Benelux and the Middle East at Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD), while Rita Akkari has been appointed director of sales for Central and Eastern Europe.

Reporting to Robert Blair, the senior VP of Northern Europe, both Patel and Akkari will head up the licensing of WBITD programming, including series, feature films, TV movies and animation,  throughout their respective regions. They will also sell current and library programming to new-media clients in the areas of advertiser-supported and subscription-based VOD. Both executives are based in London.

Patel, who most recently served as director of sales for Benelux and the Middle East, joined WBITD in February 2007 after working at The Walt Disney Company for 11 years. Akkari, who was most recently senior sales manager, served two years as director of international sales at TVF International before joining WBITD in 2007. 

“Roni and Rita have both distinguished themselves by identifying and developing new opportunities to grow WBITD’s business in key territories, and these promotions reflect their ongoing contributions to our success,” said Jeffrey Schlesinger, the president of Warner Bros. International Television.