Condé Nast Taps Film Veteran Geneva Wasserman as SVP of Motion Pictures
By Todd Spangler
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Condé Nast Entertainment hired Geneva Wasserman as senior vice president of motion pictures, overseeing development of the media company’s slate of feature film properties.
Wasserman, a nearly 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry, most recently served as co-founder and executive producer of production firm Project Z Entertainment.
She takes over the role at CNE after the departure earlier this summer of Jeremy Steckler, previously EVP of film at Condé Nast Entertainment, to join Imperative Entertainment as president of film production. Wasserman will be based in L.A. and reports to Oren Katzeff, president of Condé Nast Entertainment.
“Geneva’s mix of creative brilliance and business savvy made her the ideal candidate,” Katzeff said in announcing her hire. “I know she’ll bring an innovative spirit, helping CNE capture the best that this industry has to offer, and pushing us to expand the way we think about filmmaking.”
Wasserman joins Condé Nast amid a recent reorg under CEO Roger Lynch, who joined in April from Dish’s Sling TV . Among the changes: Katzeff, as head of Condé Nast Entertainment, is now tasked with running worldwide video and entertainment operations, and Anna Wintour gained oversight of Vogue International and a role as “global content adviser” in addition to serving as U.S. Vogue’s editor-in-chief and U.S. artistic director. Meanwhile, Condé Nast CFO David Geithner and head of HR JoAnn Murray are set to depart once Condé Nast recruits execs to lead those functions globally, a company rep confirmed.
At Project Z Entertainment, Wasserman is credited as a producer on several films, including the animated “Gnome Alone” and “Seoul Searching“ for Netflix and thriller “River Runs Red” starring John Cusack, Taye Diggs, George Lopez and Luke Hemsworth. Her upcoming features include action-thriller “Doorman,” starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno, and romantic comedy “Godfrey,” starring Nick Thune and Cleopatra Coleman.
Previously, Wasserman was president of Whitener Entertainment Group , a film and TV production house focused on family and animation, and was president of WV Enterprises, Wilmer Valderrama’s film and television production company. She also co-founded publishing and advertising platforms True360VR and 360 AdSpots.
Wasserman started her career as an attorney with law firm Gray Cary. She has worked as an entertainment licensing attorney and in business development, finance and production roles on projects at Disney, Lionsgate, Oxygen, DreamWorks Animation, Fox Searchlight, 20th Century Fox and Discovery, among others.
CNE’s film projects include Matthew Michael Carnahan’s “Mosul,” about police unit fighting to liberate the Iraqi city from ISIS militants based on journalist Luke Mogelson’s stories in the New Yorker. “Mosul” is set for its international premiere at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival and domestic premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Upcoming productions include Netflix’s “Spiderhead” directed by Joseph Kosinski and “Gilded Rage” produced by Jake Gylenhall. Condé Nast Entertainment also produced “Only the Brave,” about a crew of firefighters battling Arizona’s Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013, and “The Old Man & The Gun” starring Robert Redford, who garnered a Golden Globe nomination for the role.
Condé Nast Entertainment’s production studio has a slate of some 65 active projects in film and TV and 175 digital show pilots . The division manages two over-the-top channels — for Wired and Bon Appétit — and a new GQ Sports channel coming in fall 2019.
