Tennor Group, the diversified global investment house, has appointed Ron Meyer and Sophie Jordan to be CEO and Co-CEO of the indie film distribution and production services company Wild Bunch AG. Wild Bunch CEO Vincent Grimond will stay on in an advisory capacity and work closely with Meyer and Jordan, the company said.
It becomes the latest stop for Meyer, the former Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal and CAA co-founder who most recently served in a consultant capacity with Qatar, proving guidance to its Doha Film Institute on motion picture investments.
Jordan is the former General Counsel and Special Advisor to the Chairman at beIN Media Group. Together they will help steer Wild Bunch, the pan-European company known for award-winning films and a growing distribution network, into the next era of expansion. The duo will utilize additional financial resources on strategic acquisitions of other businesses to help Wild Bunch expand its domestic and international presence in production and distribution, per Tennor Group.
In a 25 year run at NBCUniversal, Meyer guided the media conglomerate through the transition of six different ownerships. Jordan, whose international expertise as an executive and board member at leading companies like Canal+, beIN Media Group, Digiturk, Miramax, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Qatar Sports Investments, will be a formidable leadership team to take advantage of opportunities to leverage Wild Bunch’s already impressive catalogue of 2,500 titles.
Lars Windhorst, the CEO of Tennor Group, said: “We are confident that Ron and Sophie’s extensive experience and vast network of industry relationships will help shepherd Wild Bunch to be a leader of premium content in 2022. Under their leadership, we are poised to have a tremendous opportunity for short and long term value creation for Wild Bunch, Tennor Group and its stakeholders.”
Said Meyer: “When we were approached by Lars Windhorst we were beyond impressed with his vision and understanding of what Wild Bunch needed in order to grow. He is one of the most dynamic and courageous business entrepreneurs that I have met and the opportunity of partnering with him became irresistible.”
Jordan said she was “looking forward to joining Lars and Ron in this exciting next chapter for Wild Bunch. Sharing the same vision that prioritizes the growth of its already impressive library of films, we will expand global engagement and tap into broader, international audiences through new developments, productions, acquisitions and other opportunities for financing.”
After a distinguished career as an industry leader, Meyer abruptly was removed from his NBCU top post as Vice Chairman on August 18, 2020 due to the corporate fallout from a consensual affair with actress Charlotte Kirk, which the the media conglom vice chairman said was “many years ago.” When Meyer told his bosses about an alleged extortion attempt having to do with the affair, he was relieved of his duties. Meyer settled out earlier this year for a sum Deadline reported was around $20 million.
Wild Bunch has consistently been on the forefront of the global indie film movement, manages a library of more than 2500 titles and has positioned itself as a key player in direct electronic distribution via its VOD/SVOD service FilmoTV. Wild Bunch AG was formed after a 2015 merger with Senator Entertainment, with its Wild Bunch International division solely dedicated to international sales. The pan-European holding company, based in Berlin and Paris is active in the acquisition, coproduction, direct distribution and international sales of movies and TV series. Through its French VOD/SVOD service, FilmoTV, in conjunction with its recent launch of Wild Bunch TV, the company holds a significant position in international distribution and co-production, which it is looking to expand and diversify under the leadership of Meyer and Jordan.
As for Jordan, she started her career at Canal+ overseeing content business affairs in sports and non-sports related programs. She participated in the international development of the European pay tv group and its expansion into sports rights marketing and film production and distribution. She worked closely with Pierre Lescure and his team during the years that saw Canal+ develop its brand on both sides of the Atlantic. Jordan left Canal+ in 2003 and started a boutique law firm specialising in media law in EMEA. At that time, she started working with Al Jazeera on the launch of Al Jazeera Sports, a pan-regional sports channel, and worked closely with Nasser Al Khelaifi, Chairman of beIN Media Group to transform what started as a local Arabic language sports channel into a global media operator broadcasting in 43 countries, across 5 continents in 9 languages. In 2013 Jordan joined beIN MEDIA group as General Counsel and board member and oversaw the acquisition of both Digiturk, the number one pay tv operator in Turkey, and Miramax in 2016. Jordan led the management transformation of Miramax, and was tasked to oversee the Miramax asset for beIN Media Group. Following the sale in 2020 of a 49% stake in Miramax to ViacomCBS, Jordan was appointed on the Miramax greenlight committee. Jordan is a board member of Qatar Sports Investments and led the acquisition of Paris Saint Germain Football Club for QSI in 2011. Jordan is a board member of PSG and PSG Foundation.