Will Keenan Tapped to Lead Endemol Beyond USA

Endemol North America has appointed Will Keenan as president of Endemol Beyond USA. Previously the vice president of vertical development and network programming at Maker Studios, Keenan will oversee the launch of the new digital ventures in the U.S. and build a network of genre focused premium channels. He reports to Cris Abrego and Charlie Corwin, the newly named co-CEOs and chairmen of Endemol North America.

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“We admire the innovation that digital entrepreneurs like Keenan are bringing to this space,” said Abrego and Corwin in a statement. “He is a creative and bold visionary and the right choice to lead our premium channel network in the U.S.”  

“I am honored to be a part of the continued evolution of Endemol, a world leader in creating, producing and distributing some of the most recognized entertainment content across the globe,” said Keenan in a statement. “In this new role, I am looking forward to leading a first of its kind premium channel network venture and a digital dream team that will transform the way digital content is experienced and delivered. I look forward to working with successful content innovators like Charlie Corwin, Cris Abrego, the team at Endemol North America and our talented Endemol colleagues around the world to implement a bold digital strategy that goes beyond what anyone else has done so far in the digital space.”

Keenan joins Endemol following last week’s announcement to launch Endemol Beyond, a new $40-million initiative that will house its international and local digital channels offered across online video platforms including YouTube, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Dailymotion and others.

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While at Maker Studios since September 2011, Keenan helped grow the company from a few hundred channels to more than 70,000.  establishing partnerships with key Hollywood talent, partnering with YouTube channels such as BadLipReading and BaracksDubs, and helping to launch channels geared towards the presidential election, including PoliPop, YouTube’s first politics and entertainment network. Prior to joining Maker Studios, Keenan was an actor, stuntman and filmmaker.