Sean Cohan to Chair Banff World Media Festival Board

Bell Media president Sean Cohan has been tapped as the subsequent chair of the Banff World Media Pageant’s board of administrators.

The previous A&E Networks and Nielsen veteran replaces Kevin Beggs, the Lionsgate Tv Group chair who served as Banff board chair for 3 years. Beggs will proceed to serve on the competition’s board as Cohan helps oversee the distinguished media competition because it navigates persevering with trade disruption within the streaming period.

“I stay up for collaborating with the group and persevering with the work of the incomparable Kevin Beggs to develop Banff’s international impression whereas showcasing the various alternatives Canadian corporations, organizations and creatives convey to our trade,” stated Cohan in an announcement on Thursday.

The Bell Media boss is aware of about trade disruption, having boarded the Canadian media big in Nov. 2023 as U.S. streaming giants have been taking an elevated share of home TV viewing and as advert income more and more shifted to overseas digital platforms like Google and Fb.

“We’re delighted to welcome Sean as the brand new chair to information Banff into its subsequent chapter. Because the media panorama continues to evolve, Sean’s forward-thinking imaginative and prescient and international perspective will probably be invaluable in shaping the way forward for the competition and fostering innovation throughout the trade,” added Banff government director Jenn Kuzmyk in her personal assertion.

Cohan had a 15-year tenure at A+E Networks, together with serving as president, worldwide and digital media, which was adopted by his put up as chief development officer and president at Nielsen, the measurement and information analytics big.

Lionsgate’s Beggs added in his personal assertion: “It’s been a real privilege to function chair of the Banff Basis Board for the final three years. I’ve seen the Pageant develop to be a spot the place integral conversations about the way forward for the trade occur, and the place a number of the world’s most revolutionary creatives and executives collect. It’s like no different occasion. I’ve little question that with the supremely gifted Sean Cohan now on the helm, the competition is in wonderful palms.”

The Banff World Media Pageant, which returns subsequent 12 months from June 8 to 11, additionally unveiled as a part of its partnership with Paramount+ the 25 girls with their very own manufacturing corporations that may take part within the 2025 Banff Spark Accelerator for Ladies in Enterprise of Media: Producers Version.

“We’re thrilled to work with these extremely gifted girls. This cohort contains a formidable roster of a number of Canadian and worldwide award-winning producers and entrepreneurs with high-level manufacturing expertise,” Kuzmyk stated.

A full checklist of the 2025 Spark Accelerator program members, and their profiles, is out there on the Banff World Media Pageant web site.