Viacom Digital Studios announced the appointment of Rebecca Glashow and Shelley Zimmerman as the new co-heads of Awesomeness, following the media conglomerate’s acquisition of the youth-skewing studio and digital network two months ago.
The leadership changes come after former Awesomeness CEO Jordan Levin exited a few weeks after the Viacom deal closed.
Glashow (above left) and Zimmerman (above right) report to Viacom Digital Studios president Kelly Day, who was herself previously with Awesomeness as chief business officer. The duo will together oversee Awesomeness’ studio, social, marketing, production, programming and distribution functions.
Based in New York, Glashow most recently served as chief strategy and distribution officer at Awesomeness; prior to joining the company in 2016, she had senior roles in content distribution and strategy at Discovery and Comcast. L.A.-based Zimmerman was head of Awesomeness’ TV studio and previously led scripted programming development and production at Warner Horizon and Tollin/Robbins Productions.
“Rebecca and Shelley continue to be a driving force at the heart of Awesomeness,” Day said in a statement. “Their contributions have been instrumental in the company’s success and they have a distinct ability to grow and leverage the brand with the strength of their combined creative and operational expertise and leadership.”
A month ago, Viacom disclosed plans to lay off nearly 100 Awesomeness employees, cutting around half of the staff of the company it acquired from Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Verizon and Hearst.
On this week’s episode of the Variety podcast Strictly Business, Viacom Digital Studios president Kelly Day discussed why the acquisition of Awesomeness was “the bargain of a lifetime.” Listen: