CHRIS O’CONNELL APPOINTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF MRC

Los Angeles, CA - (September 28, 2021) - Leading entertainment company MRC named Chris O’Connell its Chief Financial Officer. O’Connell will report to MRC co-CEO’s and co-founders Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk.  

In his role, O’Connell will be a key leader in the financial management of the company. This includes corporate finance, financial planning & analysis, financial operations, treasury, accounting and tax. He will oversee optimization and servicing of the capital structure of the company, and along with the leadership team, determine the best mix of debt, equity and financing structures at the project and corporate levels.  

“Chris will be a critical part of our leadership team, we welcome him to MRC knowing he’ll drive the business forward with his proven finance track record and entrepreneurial drive,” said Satchu and Wiczyk.  

“I am thrilled to join the team at MRC,” said O’Connell. “The company has a long history of partnering with visionary artists to deliver premium content and I look forward to contributing to its future growth and success.” 

O’Connell recently served as EVP, Corporate Finance and CFO, Global Content and Distribution at Eros STX, where he led the publicly traded company through its merger and capital raise and managed financial planning & analysis, corporate development and treasury. Since joining the startup STX in 2015, he also worked to secure the company’s Series C and Series D equity raises, JPMorgan led credit facility and slate co-financings. 

O’Connell began his career in JPMorgan’s technology, media & telecommunications investment banking group before serving in executive strategic planning, business development and investor relations roles at DreamWorks Animation SKG and The Walt Disney Studios. He earned a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

MRC’s leading independent television studio currently has 10 current series picked up and will debut the limited series “The Shrink Next Door” starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd on November 12th on Apple TV+, and launch season two of “The Great” starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult on Hulu on November 19th. Additional series include “Ozark” starring Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner for Netflix; “The Terminal List” starring Chris Pratt for Amazon; “Poker Face” starring Natasha Lyonne for Peacock; and, for Apple TV+, “Shining Girls” starring Elisabeth Moss and “Hello Tomorrow!” starring Billy Crudup. The film studio is working across seven current film projects and recently wrapped production on The Mothership starring Halle Berry for Netflix, Jerry and Marge Go Large starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening for Paramount+, and Persuasion starring Dakota Johnson and Henry Goulding, for Netflix. MRC Live & Alternative recently announced its expansion into streaming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards” on Amazon Prime Video and are in pre-production on the “American Music Awards” with showrunner Jesse Collins, to air live on ABC on November 21. MRC Non-Fiction released Sparks Brothers Edgar Wright’s documentary feature debut with Focus Features along with several other projects currently in production.   

About MRC  

MRC is a diversified global entertainment company which develops, finances and produces some of the world’s most iconic, award-winning and prestigious series, films, documentaries and live event programming as well as operates investments and joint ventures in media, data and publishing. MRC is comprised of four content divisions: MRC Television, the largest and most award-winning independent television studio in North America; MRC Live & Alternative, the biggest proprietor of live-event entertainment programming broadcasts globally; MRC Film, known for its high-quality distinctive films, its specialty labels and investments in major studio films; and MRC Non-Fiction which focuses on feature documentaries and docuseries. MRC and PMC’s publishing joint venture and strategic content partnership spans brands The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vibe and Music Business Worldwide. MRC and PMC’s data venture brings together MRC Data, Alpha Data and Variety Business Intelligence. MRC owns a majority stake in Civic Center Media, A-Major Media and has minority investments in A24, Fulwell 73, Sugar23 and T-Street. For more information please visit: www.mrcentertainment.com.