Kristin Jones is no longer the chief creative officer of Vuguru, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. Jones joined Vuguru, an independent studio that develops and finances multi-platform content for domestic and international distribution, in 2010. Prior to that, she was the SVP of production, international development, and acquisitions at Miramax. According to the same sources, Jones was let go by Vuguru due to a lack of “hits” in the time she was in charge of creative.
No word yet on who is in line to replace Jones. I’ve reached out to Vuguru for comment and will update accordingly.
Vuguru, which was founded by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company in 2006, has a couple of projects launching in the second half of this year. This includes “Flat Out,” a documentary series following 17-year-old NASCAR driver Dylan Kwasniewski that was previewed during AOL’s Newfront, and “The Fuzz,” a puppet-crime-comedy that will be distributed in the US on Yahoo.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for executive shuffles within the industry. Last week it was announced that Robert Green was leaving his role as SVP of creative, digital at Conde Nast Entertainment, to be replaced by Michael Klein, who was named EVP of program and content strategy for CNE’s digital channels. While at FishBowl Worldwide Media, president and CEO Bruce Gersh is exiting the company, and I’ve been told by a source that David Beebe, SVP of creative development, digital, is also on his way out.* What does this all mean? Who knows — I keep on hearing that no one is making money on digital. Maybe it has to do with that, or maybe it’s just one of those weeks/months.
* Update: Beebe says he’s “still part of the FishBowl family, advising on short-form video strategy and continuing to develop digital series, brands, and partnerships. We will announce my role, partnership, and new ventures next week, which includes FishBowl and several other exciting digital projects.”
