DHX Appoints VP of Rights Strategy

DHX Media has named Lara Ilie as VP of rights strategy, a newly created position.

Reporting to Chief Commercial Officer Anne Loi, Ilie will develop and help implement strategies to monetize DHX’s portfolio of IP rights across business units and territories. She will also manage sales in Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia.

Ilie has worked for DHX Media since 2007 and was previously senior director of sales, responsible for Iberia, Italy, Benelux, Nordics, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Prior to DHX, she worked in sales and acquisitions for Romanian Television and Pro TV.

“We are committed to driving increased growth from our world-leading portfolio of kids’ and family brands,” said Josh Scherba, president of DHX Media. “Lara has a talent for building strong client relationships and has consistently demonstrated a keen understanding of the international market for children’s content and brands. With her in-depth knowledge of DHX Media’s rights business, Lara is the ideal person to help us further identify and advance integrated strategies to propel our rights business on the next phase of growth.”

Ilie added: “I look forward to working with the management team to develop the best integrated strategies for driving growth from our rights portfolio, taking advantage of opportunities across our business units to maximize international sales for our brands.”

Additionally, Rachel Taylor has been appointed as commercial director for DHX’s wholly owned subsidiary WildBrain. Reporting to Jon Gisby, managing director of WildBrain, Taylor will be responsible for expanding the company’s commercial partnership business with third-party brands. She leads WildBrain’s sales and operations teams, as well as client management.

Taylor has held senior business and commercial roles at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she was director of commercial partnerships for EMEA and director of global commercial innovation and strategy, and at Twentieth Century Fox. Prior to joining WildBrain, she was international sales director for the Australian toy company Funtastic.

“The third-party kids’ brands that we manage are an important pillar of the WildBrain business,” said Gisby. “Rachel possesses a deep appreciation of the importance of commercial partnerships, built over a decade of experience working in international media and consumer products. We welcome her to the WildBrain team and look forward to working with her to continue building our network of clients and developing these relationships.”

“WildBrain is widely recognized as a leader in the kids’ space on YouTube and I look forward to working with Jon and his team to help grow the business further,” said Taylor.