Raze Strengthens Leadership with VICE, Discovery Alums

LOS ANGELES: Raze, a digital media company with a Latin focus, has expanded its leadership team and board of directors with the addition of executives from Discovery Communications and VICE.

Seasoned media executive Rafael Sandor was named chief creative officer. In his new role, Sandor will set a creative vision for the company’s brand and content. He has decades of experience developing entertainment properties and most recently served as head of TV marketing and creative at VICELAND. Prior to that, he was executive VP of marketing and creative for the international divisions of FOX and National Geographic. Sandor spent 15 years in a range of roles at Fox International.

Award-winning news veteran Daniel Hernandez was tapped to head Raze News and to lead the development of news-related content. Hernandez is an award-winning journalist, editor, author and correspondent with more than 15 years of experience covering U.S. Latinos, as well as Latin American news and culture. He most recently served in a variety of roles at VICE, including as a producer and correspondent for VICE News Tonight on HBO. Prior to this, Hernandez worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, producers D. Matt Geller and David A. Stern were appointed co-heads of scripted programming. They will spearhead the development and production of English-language scripted TV and feature films. Geller produced the critically acclaimed motion picture Remember and recently completed production on the first season of the off-beat comedy Four in the Morning for the CBC. Stern is currently executive producer on Amazon’s The Last Tycoon, which is slated to premiere this summer, and the BBC/Starz miniseries Howards End.

Joe Abruzzese, a longtime president of sales at Discovery Communications, has joined Raze’s board of directors. Most recently, he oversaw all advertising sales for Discovery’s suite of U.S. networks, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Family Channel and more. Before joining Discovery, he spent over a decade as head of ad sales at CBS.

“Raze was founded to tell the stories of a generation that has often been underserved by creating content that speaks from a unique Latin voice,” said Emiliano Calemzuk, co-founder and CEO of Raze. “We have taken an important step toward this goal with the additions of Rafael, Daniel, Matt, David and Joe. They are some of the best media and development talent who are experts in their respective fields and truly understand how to connect with audiences.”

Raze was founded by Calemzuk, former CEO of Shine Americas and president of Fox TV Studios; Luis Balaguer, founder of Latin World Entertainment; and Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara.