Fox launches digital content development unit

DIGITAL: Digital Studios division will produce, distribute original, spin-off programs

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 10/20/2009

OCT. 20 | DIGITAL: 20th Century Fox Filmed Entertainment is forming its own digital development house, months after Fox’s TV group quietly launched Web development division 15 Gigs.

Fox Digital Studios, announced Monday, will develop, produce and distribute original and spin-off programs for the Web and emerging digital platforms, the company said.

Also Monday, Fox named Roger Mincheff senior VP of branded entertainment for digital content, putting him in charge of generating revenue from all made-for-digital content for the studio, including content created by Fox Digital Studios. Mincheff reports to Peter Levinsohn, president of new media and digital distribution at Fox Filmed Entertainment.

Mincheff had been chief executive of Spacedog Media, a digital marketing agency he formed in 1998. Spacedog has produced entertainment content for HBO, Universal Music, Qantas Airways, Harley-Davidson and other top brands.

In a statement, Levinsohn said all Fox production divisions “are exploring digital platforms as a means to tell new stories to new audiences.”

Fox Digital Studios will serve as a centralized unit that leverages the studio’s storytelling and production expertise to bring content to Web, mobile and gaming platforms, he said.

David Worthen Brooks, a former executive with Fox Atomic Digital, will head creative for Fox Digital, leading the division’s content strategy and all creative aspects of development and production. Worthen Brooks has worked with top-notch directors Ridley Scott, Spike Jonze, Baz Luhrmann and others.