John Trafford-Owen, former executive at Studiocanal and Paramount Pictures, has joined Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment as head of theatrical sales.
Trafford-Owen was previously head of theatrical distribution at Studiocanal UK as well as sales director for the UK and Ireland at Paramount Pictures International and United International Pictures UK. More recently, Trafford-Owen has worked with Gower Street Analytics, Anton Capital, RealD, Dolby Cinema and IMAX.
True Brit has also hired Kate Willoughby as its senior marketing manager and Rob Barnes as head of home entertainment.
Willoughby began her career at Momentum Pictures and went on to work with distributors including Universal Pictures, eOne and STX. She has worked on the campaigns for a variety of features including Fifty Shades Of Grey, Hustlers, The King’s Speech, Spencer and Dad’s Army.
Barnes was at eOne for 15 years, working as part of the home entertainment team across film and television. During his time at eOne, he worked on the home entertainment releases of The Twilight franchise, 1917, Stan & Ollie and The BFG. Most recently, he was leading on the global transactional strategy for eOne and Hasbro’s childrens’ brands.
Trafford-Owen, who takes up his role this month, will work with True Brit on a consultancy basis. Willoughby is full-time while Barnes’s role is part-time.
They join previous True Brit hires Nick Manzi as head of acquisitions and Chris Besseling as head of theatrical distribution, marketing and publicity, with Kamasa’s company now working out of new offices in Fitzrovia.
In September, True Brit’s first acquisition The Critic was released in UK cinemas by Lionsgate UK, and has grossed £1.5m to date.
The company’s first in-house production – Nick Love’s Marching Powder – is scheduled for release in UK cinemas on January 31. It will be the first theatrical release True Brit handles itself with a wide release being planned for the Danny Dyer crime comedy.
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