BuzzFeed hired Litty Samuel, previously director of development for video at Meredith, as executive director of editorial video for BuzzFeed content.
She takes over the role from Maycie Timpone, formerly BuzzFeed’s head of video and social media, who left last September to join Instagram as U.S. lead for short-form video curation.
In the role Samuel will oversee BuzzFeed’s Editorial Video team, which includes brands like Cocoa Butter, Pero Like, As/Is, BuzzFeed Video, BuzzFeed Celeb, Unsolved, Bring Me and Goodful. She will also collaborate with the BuzzFeed business organization “to create new revenue and business opportunities for editorial video,” the company said. Samuel will officially start at BuzzFeed on May 17 and will report to Tommy Wesely, BuzzFeed’s SVP of content and operations.
Samuel will also work closely with BuzzFeed Studios head Richard Alan Reid in some capacity. BuzzFeed Studios recently signed with CAA, as the long-form video division looks to expand its slate across TV, film and subscription VOD.
Samuel “is uniquely suited to help us develop new ways to monetize, build on existing successes and innovate our video content on emerging platforms,” a BuzzFeed rep said.
Samuel currently serves as Meredith’s director of development, where she has overseen program pilots across their brands, run creative strategy and leveraged insights to build platform-specific content to expand and grow Meredith’s video business.
Over her 11 years in video production, Samuel has worked across numerous content verticals including professional sports, fashion, home, food, celebrity, travel, and health and fitness. Samuel started her career shooting, editing and producing content for outlets including New York Magazine, AOL and Men’s Health. She worked at CBS Interactive from 2014-15 in creative development and strategy before joining Meredith.
