Polis Named W!LDBRAIN'S Brand Man
Exec will manage studio's corporate identity
By Michael Schneider
Los Angeles, CA - Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Animation and production studio W!LDBRAIN has tapped Michael Polis to serve as its first-ever chief marketing officer. Polis will manage W!LDBRAIN's corporate identity and also look to build up its brands, such as the upcoming Nick Jr. series "Yo Gabba Gabba."
Polis joins W!LDBRAIN from the Jim Henson Co., where he oversaw strategic marketing initiatives as senior VP of marketing worldwide.
The hire reunites Polis with his old Henson boss, Charles Rivkin, who now serves as prexy-CEO at W!LDBRAIN. Polis will report directly to Rivkin.
"Michael is recognized in the industry as a marketing innovator," Rivkin said. "He is the rare executive who brings creativity to the process and builds evergreen brands with outof- the-box thinking and entrepreneurship."
W!LDBRAIN is headquartered in San Francisco, but Polis will be based in Los Angeles, where the studio also has an office.
Polis received an Emmy nom as an exec producer on "Kermit's Swamp Years." He handled properties including the Muppets, "Fraggle Rock" and "Labyrinth."
Before Henson, Polis was exec director of marketing at Universal Home Entertainment, managing marketing of the homevid catalog and releases such as "E.T.," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "The Land Before Time."
Besides producing programming for outlets such as Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, W!LDBRAIN produces animated and computer-generated films and commercials.