John Friedberg has been tapped as president of STX’s international division for films, the company announced Monday. His promotion comes after David Kosse, the executive who STX tapped in 2016 to oversee its oversea efforts, was poached by Netflix.
Friedberg previously served as the company’s president of international sales since 2015. He will now oversee the the company’s worldwide acquisition efforts and will run its theatrical distribution business in the UK and Ireland. Friedberg will report to STX chief operating officer Thomas McGrath and will be based out of the company’s London office, which will continue to serve as headquarters for international sales and marketing.
STX’s upcoming films include “Uglydolls,” an animated movie about the popular plush toys,” as well as “17 Bridges,” a crime thriller with Sienna Miller and Chadwick Boseman, and “The Boy 2,” a sequel to the 2016 horror hit. Since it was founded in 2014 as a challenger to Hollywood’s six major studios, STX has had mixed results. The company intended to release films more cost-efficiently and with a greater focus on innovative ways of marketing. That worked in the case of “Bad Moms,” a raunchy comedy that was a summer box office hit when it opened in 2016, but it didn’t pay off with the flops such as the Melissa McCarthy comedy “The Happytime Murders” or the Mark Wahlberg thriller “Mile 22.”
Kosse will assume the title of VP for international film at Netflix and will oversee all international production and acquisition for the company, focusing particularly on significant non-English-language films. Before joining STX, Kosse oversaw Film4.