Starz has hired Jimmy Hilburn to serve as its new chief marketing officer.
In addition, Susan Ievoli has been hired to serve as senior vice president of publicity, events, and awards. In that role, she will report to Hilburn. Finally, Robin Chacko has been promoted by Starz to the role of executive vice president of direct-to-consumer. He will continue to report to Alison Hoffman, president of domestic networks for Starz.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Jimmy and Susan to the Starz team and elevate Robin’s oversight in a key area of the business,” said Hoffman. “These best-in-class executives are creative disruptors who are as strategic and analytical as they are innovative. They will further amplify the company’s momentum as we continue to grow our subscriber base and develop premium campaigns in support of our robust slate.”
Hilburn joins Starz from Netflix, where he was the director of marketing. He worked on a number of the streamer’s hit shows, including “Bridgerton,” “Ozark,” and “Narcos.” He also worked on Netflix’s stand up comedy brand, Netflix Is a Joke. Prior to Netflix, Hilburn was at AMC, where he helped launch hit shows like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” and “The Walking Dead.” In his new role, he will oversee all teams across marketing, media, publicity, and creative.
Ievoli steps into the role previously held by Jennifer Minzeaki-Washington, who was promoted in March 2021 to the role of executive vice president of corporate and brand communications. Ievoli was previously the senior vice president of public relations and social media for The History Channel, where she helped launch the network’s first scripted programming. She originally joined A+E Networks as director of publicity. Before that, she was a publicity executive at Turner Broadcasting, overseeing campaigns for TNT, TBS, TCM, and truTV.
Chacko first joined Starz in 2017 as senior vice president of growth marketing and product management. Prior to joining the premium cabler, he led CRM and product management for Jam City and led group operations at Electronic Arts for Tetris Hasbro and Pogo Studio. In his new role, he will lead growth marketing, product management, and subscriber operations for the Starz app on mobile, streaming boxes, game consoles, smart TVs, and online.
