Brent Montgomery Unveils Wheelhouse Entertainment

Brent Montgomery, who last week announced his departure as CEO of ITV America, has revealed details of his new media and marketing company Wheelhouse Entertainment.

Wheelhouse has offices currently operating in New York and Los Angeles. The outfit will create content and marketing opportunities across multiple businesses and platforms, as well as talent-driven partnerships and 360-degree businesses. Wheelhouse will help with investments and management, with assistance from a top-tier operations and finance team also employed under Montgomery’s leadership.

Wheelhouse unveiled its first production label, Spoke Studios, which recently launched a production partnership with ITV America. Spoke Studios will be creating content across a variety of platforms that explores unique points of view with programming that spotlights extraordinary worlds, dynamic characters and human ingenuity. Spoke Studios and ITV America will work together on a range of unscripted series and projects to be produced by ITV America’s in-house production team.

Ed Simpson, who served as executive VP of business development and international at ITV America, has joined Montgomery at Wheelhouse Entertainment in the role of chief strategy officer.

Montgomery said, “After an amazing run at Leftfield and then ITV, I’m thrilled for the opportunity to build something new and disruptive from the ground up. Incorporating everything I’ve learned and experienced as a producer, an entrepreneur, a CEO and an investor, Wheelhouse will concentrate on creating new and alternative business models specifically aimed at solving our clients’ cost challenges, while leveraging the changing and rocky media landscape we are all navigating. We will seek out and broker key talent partnerships that Wheelhouse also will invest in, helping to nurture and market a range of opportunities that fuel our talents’ goals and key businesses, both inside and outside of entertainment.”

Montgomery continued, “This is a business model that demands a stellar and focused team willing to roll up their sleeves and embrace a maverick approach and risk-taking, balanced with sound strategy and expert execution. In Ed Simpson, I have an unparalleled partner in crime and will rely on him and ITV America’s new CEO, David George, and chief creative officer, Adam Sher, who, together will spearhead the production partnership between Spoke and ITV America. With this dynamic trio and our successful track record of growth at ITV America, our expectations are high, and my excitement to collaborate with them and the extended Wheelhouse team, even higher. I could not be more eager to get started in this second act.”