Astronauts Wanted expands branded content production team
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Michelle Clancy
| 06 February 2017

Veteran branded entertainment executive Jonny Blitstein has joined the leadership team of Astronauts Wanted.

The youth development and production company is a joint venture between Judy McGrath, former chairperson/CEO of MTV Networks, and Sony Music Entertainment. Based in the company’s New York office, Blitstein will work to create premium branded content that resonates with contemporary youth audiences. He joins as vice president of business development, Branded Entertainment.

“Putting the branded entertainment powerhouse team in place, of first Chris Murphy (SVP Branded Entertainment) and now Jonny, speaks to our commitment to innovate and head the pack in this medium of branded storytelling,” said McGrath. “Additionally, it demonstrates our desire to partner with the world’s leading and most forward-thinking brands.”

Blitstein comes to Astronauts Wanted from Maker Studios/Disney, where he managed sales and content distribution strategy for branded entertainment video and social media campaigns with YouTube creators. With more than 15 years’ experience in the field, he has partnered on branded entertainment with clients such as Wendy’s, Walmart and Sprint.

Prior to Maker/Disney, Blitstein co-created and led the agency partnerships team for CrowdTwist, a loyalty/audience/influence tech start-up, and stewarded their first integration with P&G. His early career work as a writer, director and producer has been seen and distributed worldwide in festivals, theatres, on cable, Netflix and video-on-demand (VOD) platforms.