FilmRise hires Showtime alum Gazoul, takes FAST rights to Kim’s Convenience
Kim’s Convenience debuted on CBC in Canada in 2016
New York-based studio and streaming network FilmRise has hired former Showtime exec Gabriel Gazoul as director of film acquisitions and acquired FAST rights to Canadian series Kim’s Convenience.
Gazoul, who spent 12 years acquiring content for Showtime Networks, will oversee the acquisition of newly released feature films and documentaries, as well as collaborating on release strategies with FilmRise’s sales and marketing teams. He will report to Max Einhorn, senior VP of acquisitions and coproductions.
His arrival is the latest in a flurry of recent appointments. Last month, the company hired former Vudu exec Daniel Gagliardi as VP of digital distribution and business development and Emilia Nuccio in the newly created position of VP for international sales.
Meanwhile, the deal for FAST rights to Kim’s Convenience was struck with rights owner and producer Thunderbird.
The agreement gives FilmRise, which operates a portfolio of ad-supported streaming apps and FAST channels under the FilmRise Streaming Network banner, exclusive FAST rights to all five seasons of the popular series about a Korean-Canadian family.
The company said it would place the series across its existing FAST channels, in addition to creating marathon FAST channels dedicated to the show in the US, Latin America, German-speaking Europe, French-speaking Europe, Italy, and Spain. FilmRise also said it would offer the series on FAST linear streaming channels on IMDb TV, Pluto, The Roku Channel, Samsung TV+, the FilmRise Streaming Network and others.
Originally commissioned by Canadian public broadcaster the CBC, Kim’s Convenience premiered in 2016 and later found a global audience when it was picked up by Netflix in 2018.
The cast includes Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (The Mandalorian), Andrew Phung (Run the Burbs) Andrea Bang (A Million Little Things), Jean Yoon (The Voyeurs), Simu Liu (Marvel’s Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Nicole Power, who leads Kim’s Convenience spin-off series Strays, which premiered on the CBC in September 2021.
