Vuguru gets first president

Former LivePlanet and Agility Studios president Larry Tanz (below) is taking up the same spot at Vuguru, the digital studio that’s now going solo following investment from Canada’s Rogers Media.

Tanz’s appointment comes after Vuguru founder, former Disney chief Michael Eisner, signalled his desire to spin out the studio as an independent entity from his investment company Tornante.

Canada’s Rogers Media made a “sizeable investment” in Vuguru in October to make this possible, and Tanz will now oversee the new operation as it steps up the pace of its output.

As president and CEO of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s LivePlanet, Tanz produced numerous film, TV and new media projects including Project Greenlight for HBO.

He went on to co-found Agility, a digital venture that helped devise the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers – a franchise developed with director Jon Chu and recently picked up by Paramount Digital Entertainment. Ultradome, a copro with Heroes’ star Milo Ventimiglia’s DiVide Pictures, also came out of Tanz’s time at Agility.

“We’re thrilled to have Larry as Vuguru’s first president,” said Eisner. “His entrepreneurial experience and track record for marrying high-quality creative content with strong fiscal management will enable him to achieve our long-term vision for Vuguru.”

That long-term vision includes getting Vuguru to a target of 30 original productions per year. The firm, which has partnered with the likes of California collective Big Fantastic on series such as Prom Queen, has had a relatively low output over the past 12 months. The combination of Rogers’ investment and Tanz’s appointment is designed to change this and Vuguru’s 2010 slate is expected to include 10 to 15 new series.