Ken DuBow

World Screen Weekly, May 31, 2007

President of Worldwide Distribution

PorchLight Entertainment

Ken DuBow, the recently appointed president of worldwide distribution at PorchLight Entertainment, has known about the television business since he was a young boy. “There is a legendary guy in the international sales business by the name of Norman Horowitz,” says DuBow. “Norman and my father grew up in the same apartment building in the Bronx. So he’s always been like an uncle to me.” Influenced in great part by Horowitz, DuBow got a degree in broadcasting and film, and then worked in the U.S. syndication business for a good portion of his career. “I get very restless unless I can act entrepreneurial,” explains DuBow. “Once I learned domestic syndication, I wanted to learn international broadcasting and film after that.”

And so he did, and among the companies he worked for was Modern Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swedish Modern Times Group. In 2006, DuBow led the sale of the company’s library of 324 films, which included classics like Dirty Dancing, Dead Zone, Conan the Barbarian and the Halloween and Amityville franchises, to Lionsgate.

Prior to joining PorchLight, DuBow was at First Look Studios, where he served first as executive VP of worldwide sales and then was promoted to president of television. He was instrumental in selling titles internationally, such as A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Wes Craven’s The Breed, as well as launching a syndication unit in the U.S.

“I have a funny line about the businesses, whether it’s broadcast or film,” he says. “It’s like a poker game. If you sit down and bring money to the table, sooner or later they are going to deal you in because they figure your money is as good as anybody else’s. And you have as much a right to be there as anybody else. I have learned over the years to play in many different poker games.”

DuBow’s career has kept pace with the evolution of the media business and currently he sees two major forces spurring growth of the television industry around the world. “Broadband, the Internet and mobile have gotten bigger,” says DuBow, “and at the same time, there are many more channels and specialty channels on the air, with more coming. So the need for content is greater than ever.” And PorchLight, with its focus on high-quality animation, movies, non-fiction and music, is well positioned to fill much of that need.

The company has a new programming slate of more than $50 million in TV series, specials and movies. There are three animated series: FARMkids, My Goldfish Is Evil! and The Adventures of Massey Ferguson; and one live-action/CGI series called Monster Warriors. There are also two animated specials: Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn’t Happen and A Tad of Christmas Cheer.

PorchLight also has several new movies, including the theatrical family drama The Ultimate Gift; Rain, based on the V. C. Andrews novel; White Air, an extreme sports drama; and the thrillers Cheating Fate, Her Sister’s Keeper and Silent Witness.

“The company has tremendous goodwill around the world; people like doing business with PorchLight,” says DuBow, who is very keen on extending the company’s offering. “PorchLight has a good history, so there are ways to expand upon the company’s goodwill and find other product. Series are one genre that I am focused on like a laser beam.”

—By Anna Carugati