Roy Sekoff Becomes President, CCO Of New HuffPost Studios As Video Output Increases

The Huffington Post is proving its dedication to online video programming. The media publication just formed HuffPost Studios and promoted HuffPost Live co-founder Roy Sekoff to the Studios’ role of President and Chief Creative Officer.

Sekoff was previously the founding editor of The Huffington Post and worked on HuffPost Live, developing programming for that platform. The long-time HuffPo executive will now be responsible for all content and developments for the newly-created HuffPost Studios. To help him in his duties, the Studios have also hired Complex Media’s Nathan Brown as General Manager.

“There is nobody better suited to lead HuffPost’s expansion into long-form video series than Roy,” Arianna Huffington wrote in an internal memo, as reported by The Wrap. “In his 10 years at HuffPost, he’s proven himself to be a rare combination of a creative and innovative thinker, and someone who knows how to execute and deliver on those creative ideas.” Huffington’s memo also revealed huge goals for the new HuffPost Studios; the media company wants to double down on the amount of video it produces and eventually reach a point where half of all Huffpo written content is accompanied by a Huffpo video.

The Huffington Post started becoming serious about online video more recently, as it announced its upcoming, hour-long satirical news segment The HuffPost Show (Sekoff is one of the show’s hosts). This HuffPost Live programming will be reminiscent of Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart shows, and will debut on March 27, 2015.

Read the full memo from Arianna Huffington and CEO Jimmy Maymann below:

As you know, doubling down on video is one of our biggest goals for 2015. As we expand our original video offerings to include long-form series and documentaries, and approach a time when 50 percent of HuffPost content will have a video component, we are thrilled to announce two big steps in this direction: the promotion of Roy Sekoff to President and Chief Creative Officer of the newly-formed HuffPost Studios, and the hiring of Nathan Brown as General Manager of Video. Together, they’ll be shaping HuffPost’s future in all things video.

As the founding editor of The Huffington Post and the co-creator of HuffPost Live, there is nobody better suited to lead HuffPost’s expansion into long-form video series than Roy. In his 10 years at HuffPost, he’s proven himself to be a rare combination of a creative and innovative thinker, and someone who knows how to execute and deliver on those creative ideas.

In his new role, Roy will continue to lead the creative direction of HuffPost Live, which recently surpassed 2 billion video views and continues to attract top-tier guests who break news on our air, while overseeing the recently-announced HuffPost Show and our push into documentaries.

We met with many candidates for the GM role, and Nathan stood out as someone who clearly understands the “video moment” we find ourselves in, but who also has the ability to think creatively about what’s around the corner. Nathan will be involved in every aspect of HuffPost’s video operation, from strategy and monetization to growing our audience and increasing the quality of our content.

Nathan joins us from Complex Media, where he was General Manager of video and TV, overseeing original and branded content for a millennial audience, on everything from news and pop culture to style and gaming. Before that, he founded and ran Rehab Media, an award-winning film production company in San Francisco that produced short and long-form videos, branded entertainment, documentaries and a feature film. Along with his focus on video, Nathan also has a deep interest in design — his creations range from bar and restaurant interiors to elegant furniture for Disfigure, the San Francisco design firm he co-founded. We can’t wait to see how Nathan, working across all areas of HuffPost — including internationally — puts his experience, expertise and passion to work.

Please join us in congratulating Roy on his promotion, and in welcoming Nathan to the HuffPost team.

Arianna and Jimmy