Portland stop-motion studio LAIKA has appointed former NBCUniversal exec Bradley Wald as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Operations. The announcement was made by President & CEO Travis Knight.
Wald is tasked with leading LAIKA’s business operations as the studio continues to grow its roster of animated feature films, while also cultivating a broad range of growth opportunities for the company. He most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer of International TV Production at NBCUniversal in London.
“Brad brings a powerful voice and vision to LAIKA’s leadership team,” says Knight. “His far-reaching, high-level business expertise, vast international experience, sensitivity to the creative process, and wise governance will be invaluable to our studio’s evolution. As we embark on our second decade as a company, Brad becomes my partner in guiding LAIKA to a bold new future and more awesome movies. We welcome Brad to the LAIKA family with open arms.”
During his time at NBCU, Wald managed the highly successful commercial activities surrounding hit period drama Downton Abbey, working with distribution and home entertainment teams to expand the show’s global reach, and developed ancillary revenue streams from scratching including a LIMA Award-winning consumer products portfolio and 360 degree sponsorship solutions for licensed broadcasters.
Wald previously was Managing Director/SVP, Europe, Middle East & Africa, at Comcast International Media Group, where he led a team which developed E! and other Comcast channels into household names throughout the region, running all aspects of sales, business development, marketing and finance.
Previous to NBCU/Comcast, Wald held a senior executive position at Liberty Media’s The Box Worldwide where he developed “The Box Music Television” around the globe. Wald began his financial career at Arthur Andersen and had progressive financial roles at Paramount Pictures, Turner Pictures and Videotron’s OpTel.
