It has been recently announced that Amy Powell has added the position of President of Paramount Television to her responsibilities as head of Digital Entertainment and Insurge Pictures.
The promotion of Powell marks the first appointment to the recently announced start-up television division for Paramount. In her new role as President of Paramount Television, Amy is will finance and develop television for all platforms, from digital episodic content to prime time series. The new division is looking over the next five years to methodically build a creative television studio that will harness existing properties as well as new ideas from established and emerging talent, broadly seeking partners and distribution
For the past two years, Powell has led Paramount’s digital arm that brings original serialized content to the web with the goal of that content jumping to other platforms. The label has released Ben Stiller’s “Burning Love,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award this past week. “Burning Love” premiered on Yahoo! and all three seasons will make the unprecedented jump to E! Entertainment Television. Currently the label is in pre-production on the Bandito Brothers produced action-thriller series, “Chop Shop,” which will give a window into the underground world of Los Angeles car culture and premiere on Machinima.
Following the success of the first “Paranormal Activity” film – for which Powell played a key role in the film’s success through her digital marketing and “demand-it” distribution campaign – Paramount created Insurge, its micro-budget feature division with Powell as President. Under her leadership, Insurge has released the top-grossing musical documentary “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” the horror hit, “The Devil Inside,” and the biopic, “Katy Perry: Part of Me.”
Powell joined Paramount in 2004 from an interactive marketing position at Sony Pictures. In 2006, she was promoted to Senior Vice President of Interactive Marketing and went on to run Insurge in 2010. She has created, developed and executed digital marketing campaigns for films including the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, “Star Trek,” “Iron Man,” “Cloverfield,” “Jackass,” “Transformers,” “Tropic Thunder” and “Team America.” Powell began her career at CNN.
Amy has received numerous industry awards including being featured on Variety’s 2012 Woman’s Impact List as well as being inducted into the 2011 American Advertising Federation Marketing Hall of Fame, Key Art Awards, Webby Awards, OMMA Awards, IAB MIXX Awards and more. She has also been profiled as a 2005 “Next Gen” executive by the Hollywood Reporter and “Media Maven” by Ad Age.
In addition to Amy’s professional accomplishments, she remains dedicated to her charitable work, focusing on her passion of helping children in need. She participates regularly in mentoring programs and reading to elementary school students as part of Viacom’s Viacommunity initiatives. She also regularly volunteers at the UCLA Pediatric Oncology Ward, bringing arts & entertainment to critically ill children.
Amy holds a BA from Emory University and a MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Link to Paramount Website:
http://www.paramount.com/inside-studio/studio/executives/division-executives/amy-powell
Dylan Stafford, Assistant Dean 