ITV Alum Founds JEM Media Ventures

William van Rest, former director at ITV, has launched JEM Media Ventures.

The company is designed to help businesses, brands and talent create ancillary income streams with IP, assets and unused inventory.

At ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Will was most recently director of games for live and merchandising and has held several senior commercial director roles during his 17-year tenure. His other successes at ITV include commercializing Love Island, welcoming over 1 million visitors to ITV’s production sets and more.

Prior to ITV, he co-founded The Optimistic Network which, through its channel Nation 277, was a feeder network of programming ideas and funding models to larger broadcasters.

Van Rest has also served at BSkyB, Fremantle Media and its predecessor Pearson Television.

Van Rest, founder and managing director of JEM Media Ventures, said: “Typically, rights owners spend most of their energies getting their shows on air or projects off the ground and then move on to the next idea. But with today’s budgetary and commissioning challenges, it’s never been more vital to explore and properly maximize the long tail value of what you already have—and that’s where JEM Media Ventures comes in. We understand the power of both content and personal brands and know how to extend and manage them off-air in a wealth of innovative ways that drive meaningful interactions and new levels of engagement—as well as important new revenue channels.

“There are also a wealth of non-media brands and companies out there looking to tap into the potency of content fandom and audience loyalty. We are well placed to work with them too, driving mutually beneficial new partnerships. Our strategic and creative thinking, combined with an extensive network and experience in numerous sectors, allows us to support IP holders of all sizes and types, and at all stages of a brand’s journey, in addition to helping businesses license in and optimize IP.”