Storied media exec Brian Robbins, who was one of the masterminds behind AwesomenessTV, has announced his next move after departing the Gen Z-leaning media company in February.
Robbins will charge Paramount’s newly-launched Paramount Players division, which will produce feature films conceived in collaboration with other Viacom-owned television networks including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, and Comedy Central, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In his new role as president of Paramount Players, Robbins will work closely with the heads of these networks to create a slate of films aimed at younger audiences.
He will join the company later this month, reporting to Paramount chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, who joined the company in April.
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“In the past five years at Awesomeness, I learned that new distribution has created so many more opportunities to find/watch content as a consumer and feed/market content as a creator,” Robbins said in a statement. “But, at the end of the day, it’s still about the creative: making good films that people will show up to watch. From there, you can build a brand that people will trust and care about. I can’t wait to disrupt the status quo with a new approach to filmmaking.”
Robbins began his career as an actor before producing hit shows like Nickelodeon’s All That and the WB’s Smallville as well as feature films like Varsity Blues. He co-founded AwesomenessTV in 2012, where he produced influencer-led projects like Before I Fall and Shovel Buddies, but departed following the sale of parent company DreamWorks Animation to Comcast’s NBCUniversal division last year.
“We are fortunate to draw from [Brian’s] vast experience to launch a new production paradigm with Paramount Players,” added Gianopulos, “which embraces the studio’s history and DNA through its name, but will focus, in distinctive ways, on contemporary talent and properties for young audiences while drawing upon the vast resources of the Viacom brands.”
