AwesomenessTV picks Pan as boss

Multiplatform media company Awesomeness has hired the former president of Endemol Shine Beyond USA as head of its AwesomenessTV (ATV) brand.

Bonnie Pan

Bonnie Pan has joined the youth-skewing company in the newly created role of head of network.

Pan will manage strategy and programming for all video and editorial content across the ATV YouTube channel, as well as all social video platforms and all ATV-owned and operated platforms, including the fledgling Awesomeness News.

Awesomeness, which touts ATV as the most viewed young-adult network on YouTube, is owned by Comcast, NBCUniversal, Hearst and Verizon.

Pan joins existing network heads Birk Rawlings and Carrie Franklin, who fulfil similar roles at Awesomeness-operated DreamworksTV and Awestruck respectively.

She will work alongside other senior execs at Awesomeness including Shelley Zimmerman, head of Awesomeness’s television studio; Paula Kaplan, who heads up talent for the company and oversees Awesomeness’s creator network, and Matt Kaplan of Awesomeness Films.

Pan is one of CEO Jordan Levin’s first major hires since he joined Awesomeness in May, replacing Awesomeness co-founder Brian Robbins. She will report to Levin and president Brett Bouttier, while collaborating with Awesomeness co-founder and creative consultant Joe Davola.

“From her experience in online video at Yahoo, to partnering with influencers at Maker Studios, and original production at Endemol, she brings with her a depth of experience and boundless creative enthusiasm that will benefit the AwesomenessTV network tremendously,” Levin said of Pan.

Pan added: “The insatiable appetite of teens to consume content and experience entertainment across platforms is undeniable. ATV has embraced the ‘content meets technology’ storytelling formula and captured a passionate audience.”

During her time at Endemol Shine Beyond USA, which the Endemol Shine Group shuttered in June, Pan produced online programming such as Capturing Everest, which showed the climb to the top of Mount Everest in virtual reality.

Before joining Endemol Shine Beyond USA, Pan was executive VP of programming at Maker Studios, where she was responsible for original series in the gaming, lifestyle, family and entertainment genres.

Prior to that, Pan was head of global programming and audience development at Yahoo! Video between 2011 and 2014.