New York City-based esports giant Andbox has hired 3BlackDot and 51 Minds alum Mitchell Lawrence Smith as its chief content officer, PvNew has learned exclusively.
Smith will oversee the organization’s content, brand and talent strategy. This includes development and production across all content projects, in addition to leading talent management and growing relationships and managing the Andbox brand through content expansion.
Andbox owns and operates New York Excelsior, New York’s first professional esports team and one of the founding franchises of the Overwatch League, and the New York Subliners in the official Call of Duty League. Andbox is also home to New York’s first-ever Valorant team, as well as the NYSL Mayhem, which competes professionally in the Call of Duty: Mobile League.
With more than a decade of experience working in the Hollywood film industry and expertise in creating IP, Smith will focus his efforts on growing Andbox into New York’s premier entertainment brand, dedicated to content creation at the intersection of entertainment and gaming.
Smith has previously overseen more than 40 film and television projects and most recently served as senior vice president and head of development and production for 3BlackDot (3BD), a content studio with the largest multi-channel network in the world, which also co-produced the critically acclaimed theatrical release “Queen & Slim.” At 3BD he oversaw a slate of film, TV and digital properties that were produced and developed with partners including Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, Sony TV, DreamWorks Animation, Amblin TV and Snapchat.
At 3BD, he worked with creators to develop franchises, including executive producing the award-winning digital series “Alpha Betas” and “Gaming While Black” and establishing a feature film joint slate venture with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Eli Roth.
Prior to 3BD, Smith served as the director of scripted development at 51 Minds, where he executive produced the critically acclaimed Netflix hip-hop drama “Beats,” starring Anthony Anderson. He began his career at William Morris Endeavor (WME), before his segue into producing began at Temple Hill Entertainment working for producer Marty Bowen.
“Mitchell’s appointment to the Andbox team confirms our commitment to diversifying the content we produce as an organization, and his incredible talent relationships will help us expand our brand and audience,” James Frey, CEO of Andbox, told PvNew. “His vast storytelling experience will help us use content creation to bring the New York esports scene to a global audience in a manner well beyond what’s currently being produced by other esports organizations. I admire him a tremendous amount, and couldn’t be more excited to have him on our team.”
