Christopher J. McGurk (born January 16, 1957) became the chairman and chief executive officer of

Cinedigm Cinedigm Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm's businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution. History Early years Cinedigm Corp was founde ...

Digital Cinema in January 2011. He serves as director of

Cookie Jar Entertainment Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX ...

Holdings, the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers; the

American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, nonprofit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. The Cinematheque was created in 1981 as ...

board of directors; and the Entertainment Industries Council board of trustees. McGurk received the H.E.L.P. Group's “Spirit of Hope Award” in 2002, and its “Leader of Vision“ award in 2003.

Cinedigm

Cinedigm (or Cinedigm Corp.) is a North American entertainment company, headquartered in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California. Cinedigm is engaged in

digital cinema Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...

, software, and content marketing and distribution. Cinedigm is an independent content distributor in the United States, with a library of 50,000 films and TV episodes, and direct relationships with over 60,000 physical stores and digital retailers, including Wal-Mart,

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

, Target,

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

, and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, as well as the national

Video On Demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

platform on cable television. In addition, the company offers content marketing and distribution services in theatrical and ancillary home entertainment markets to alternative and independent movie content owners, as well as to theatrical exhibitors.

Career

Chris McGurk received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Syracuse University School of Management and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He served as executive vice president and chief financial officer thereof from 1990 to 1994, and the president of Walt Disney Studios, a division of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

, from 1994 to 1996. From 1996 to 1999, McGurk joined

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, where he served in various executive capacities, including president and chief operating officer From 1999 to 2005, McGurk was vice chairman of the board and chief operating officer of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

Inc. (“MGM”), acting as the company’s lead operating executive until MGM was sold. In 2003,

Premiere Magazine A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

’s annual Power 100 List Ranked McGurk #24 with MGM Chairman Alex Yemenidjian. McGurk played the leading role in MGM's reinvigoration, spearheading efforts that resulted MGM's industry leadership in Home Entertainment library sales, marketing and distribution. McGurk maximized the asset value of Hollywood's largest modern film library, transformed the Hollywood's largest modern film library's

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

label into a specialty film unit and negotiated strategic alliances with

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. He served as senior advisor of new ventures of Starz Media LLC (also called IDT Entertainment, Inc.) from April 5, 2006, to November 2006. McGurk founded and served as the chief executive officer of Overture Films, LLC, wholly owned subsidiary of Starz, LLC, from November 13, 2006, to July 2010. He was also CEO of

Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...

, which distributed Overture Films’ product to the home entertainment industry.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGurk, Chris Living people American media executives Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations American film producers 1957 births Syracuse University alumni University of Chicago alumni People from Boston