Hulu Loses Chief Content Officer, SVPs Of Partnerships And Experience Amid Sweeping Reorganization

Hulu announced today an executive overhaul that includes the departure of content chief Joel Stillerman, as the company restructures around four new divisions: subscribers, technology, content, and advertising.

To that end, Stillerman, who joined Hulu as chief content officer last June, is departing the company amid two new hires. Dan Phillips has been named chief technology officer and Jaya Kolhatkar has been named chief data officer — a newly-created role.

Stillerman formerly served as the programming head at AMC, where he developed The Walking Dead and Better Caul Saul. At Hulu, he was instrumental in greenlighting George Clooney’s Catch-22 limited series adaptation and Kerry Washington’s Little Fires Everywhere.

Hulu added that it was making additional changes to its content team “as the lines between live and on-demand viewing become increasingly blurred for consumers.” While Stillerman’s chief content officer role has been eliminated, Tim Connolly — former SVP of partnerships and distribution — has also left the company, and Hulu said that it is seeking a replacement to oversee licensed and acquired programming. SVP of content Craig Erwich will now oversee the company’s original programming division, including its relationships with creators, producers, and studios.

The final exec departure announced today by Hulu is former SVP of experience, Ben Smith. Smith’s role is becoming subsumed into Hulu’s marketing division, which is led by CMO Kelly Campbell. Campbell will now oversee subscriber acquisition, engagement, and retention across Hulu’s on-demand and Live TV products (which just crossed the 800,000-subscriber threshold).

Phillips joins Hulu from TiVo, where he shepherded the company’s transition from a DVR offering to a cloud-based service. In his new role, commencing June 4, Phillips will oversee Hulu’s tech and product divisions, including engineering, IT, product management, user experience, and product development. Kolhatkar, who will report to Hulu CEO Randy Freer beginning July 2, will be tasked with elevating customer intelligence and driving a culture of data-driven decision-making across Hulu.

“By adding new expertise and capabilities to our executive ranks and creating greater alignment around our customers, we are positioning Hulu to grow more rapidly,” Freer said in a statement.