Will Harrison Tapped to Replace Coolabi CEO

Jeremy Banks has resigned from his role as CEO of Coolabi Group and has been replaced by Will Harrison, who joins from Seven Dials Media.

Working alongside Coolabi’s chairman, Neil Court, Harrison will lead the company through its next phase of growth. Banks led the sale of Coolabi Group in late 2022 and was asked to stay on by the new owners to continue leading the business and finish putting in place key strategic and commercial initiatives for Warrior Cats and Beast Quest, which have been achieved.

Harrison joins Coolabi from Seven Dials Media, where he was managing director. Prior to that, he served as chief commercial officer for the Harry Potter Franchise Group at Warner Bros., helping to drive the development and commercial growth of the Harry Potter and Wizarding World brands globally. He also worked as chief operating officer for HBO Europe and was responsible for channels and streaming across 15 territories.

Throughout his career, Harrison has also served as managing director of BritBox UK and managing director of Ingenious Media, as well as held senior roles at Disney and Turner Broadcasting. Additionally, he has served on the boards of companies such as Super RTL, GMTV and FilmFlex.

“Jeremy is leaving to pursue a new and exciting challenge with our very best wishes for the future and our thanks for a job very well done,” Court said. “Under his tenure, Warrior Cats has been established as the next global kids’ phenomenon through the incredible success of the book series and graphic novels, a top 100 hit game on Roblox and with major agreements concluded with Tencent, Retail Monster and Bonkers Toys, among others. All this has served to create the substantial and hugely engaged Warrior Cats fandom, which today extends across all relevant social media channels and beyond. I’m also pleased to report that Jeremy has agreed to stay on in an advisory capacity to the board of Coolabi Group to help with the transition.”

On Harrison’s appointment, Court commented, “I am delighted to welcome Will as our new CEO. We are so pleased to have someone of his caliber leading the company as we enter the next exciting phase of growth. His knowledge of building global brands and fandoms are hugely impressive and a perfect match to his track record of running successful commercial businesses.”

“I have watched the evolution of Coolabi with admiration—it is a unique and exciting business at a compelling point in its story, with fantastic, fan-focused brands,” Harrison said. “Jeremy has put in place the strong building blocks on which we shall build the next phase, and I am looking forward to working with Neil and the talented team as we enter this new era to further expand the business and continue to build the franchises and fandoms globally.”

Banks added, “We sold Coolabi three years ago, and I have enjoyed immensely the challenge of putting in place a new commercial strategy for the business that embraces the many strengths of this wonderful company while navigating the rapidly changing nature of the kids’ media industry today. I couldn’t have done it without the wonderful team I have been fortunate enough to work alongside over the years or be more proud of what we have achieved. I believe with the key strategic partners we now have in place, Coolabi is set for an incredibly exciting few years ahead.

“I am also thankful to my shareholders for working with me to bring Neil Court into the business as chairman earlier this year to help me chart a course through to the appointment of Will Harrison as CEO, who I know will do a wonderful job taking Coolabi on to the next level with his undoubted skills and experience as an operator in this space.”