RLJE Hires Catherine Mackin as MD Acorn Media Enterprises
RLJ Entertainment hires Catherine Mackin
as Managing Director of Acorn Media Enterprises
Silver Spring, MD; July 2, 2018 – RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) has hired Catherine Mackin as the Managing Director of Acorn Media Enterprises (AME), the UK-based development division for Acorn TV, North America’s largest SVOD service focused on British and international television. Most recently Director of Programme Acquisitions at UKTV, Catherine will oversee Acorn TV’s rapidly growing commissioning and co-production slate. Catherine will start in early July and is based in RLJ Entertainment’s U.K. office in London. Catherine replaces Shane Murphy, who is returning home to Dublin as Group Head of Drama & Comedy at RTÉ.
Catherine joins Acorn Media Enterprises with more than 20 years of programming experience. She spent the last eight years as Director of Programme Acquisitions at UKTV overseeing their scripted and non-scripted acquisitions, co-productions and pre-sales, including Suits, Primeval and Murdoch Mysteries as well as heading up the content relationship with BBC Worldwide. She was also Deputy Director of Programming at Ireland’s terrestrial commercial broadcaster TV3, and previously ran channels GOLD and Bravo.
Mark Stevens, Chief Content Officer for Acorn brands at RLJ Entertainment said, “In the past three years, Shane and his team have established Acorn Media Enterprises as a preferred partner within the production community for high quality international productions, including co-producing deals for ITV’s Girlfriends, BBC’s Keeping Faith and Detectorists, as well as our first commissions of London Kills and Agatha Raisin, Series 2. While we are sorry to see Shane leave, we’re thrilled to continue the upward trajectory of AME with a seamless transition to Catherine Mackin. With her strong experience sourcing and delivering successful content across many genres, developing long-term external relationships, and delivering content strategies for terrestrial, cable, satellite and non-linear networks, Catherine is an excellent addition to the RLJ Entertainment family and to continue AME’s growth.”
Acorn TV with Acorn Media Enterprises is having an incredible year with its recent expansion announcement into twelve Latin American countries; commission announcements for the straight-to-series order of British drama London Kills Series 1 and 2 and Agatha Raisin, Series 2 starring Ashley Jensen; as well as co-production announcements for Irish comedy Finding Joy from Amy Huberman and Aussie comedy Sando; and the licensing of hit ABC Australia drama Mystery Road starring Judy Davis and Aaron Pedersen, British police procedural No Offence, Jack Irish, Season 2 starring Guy Pearce, and S4C drama Hidden with BBC Wales, which premieres in the U.S. on Monday, July 16. Read recent announcements at https://www.rljentertainment.com/press-room/
In 2018, Acorn TV has already featured five Originals with Series 3 of universally adored BBC comedy Detectorists starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones; Kay Mellor’s ITV drama Girlfriends starring Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey), Miranda Richardson, and Zoe Wanamaker (Agatha Christie’s Poirot); Irish legal drama Striking Out, Series 2 starring Amy Huberman; record-setting Welsh thriller Keeping Faith starring Eve Myles (Torchwood), and Aussie family comedy Sando. Acorn TV Originals coming later this year include Mystery Road, Finding Joy, London Kills, and Agatha Raisin, Series 2.
Called “Netflix for the Anglophile” by NPR and featuring “the most robust, reliable selection of European, British, Canadian and Australian shows” by The New York Times, Acorn TV has quickly become one of the top streamers and is the greatest value in streaming at only $4.99 a month and is commercial free. Acorn TV curates the very best in international television and remains North America’s largest streaming service for international television. Acorn TV exclusively premieres several new international series and/or seasons every month from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and other European countries. Facebook: OfficialAcornTV – Twitter @AcornTV
Additionally, through Acorn Media Enterprises, RLJ Entertainment’s Acorn TV co-produces and develops new programs which are distributed globally through Acorn Media International.
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About RLJ Entertainment
RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) is a premium digital channel company serving distinct audiences primarily through its popular OTT branded channels, Acorn TV (British TV) and UMC (Urban Movie Channel), which have rapidly grown through development, acquisition, and distribution of its exclusive rights to a large library of international and British dramas, independent feature films and urban content. RLJE’s titles are also distributed in multiple formats including broadcast and pay television, theatrical and non-theatrical, DVD, Blu-ray, and a variety of digital distribution models (including EST, VOD, SVOD and AVOD) in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Additionally, through Acorn Media Enterprises, its UK development arm, RLJE co-produces and develops new programs and owns 64% of Agatha Christie Limited. For more information, please visit RLJEntertainment.com, Acorn.tv, and UMC.tv.
Acorn TV Press Contact: Chad Campbell, ccampbell@acorn.tv