EXCLUSIVE: MRC has appointed Chris O’Connell Chief Financial Officer, and he’ll report to the entertainment company’s co-CEOs and co-founders Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk.
O’Connell, who recently served as EVP, Corporate Finance and CFO, Global Content and Distribution at Eros STX, will oversee MRC’s corporate finance, financial planning & analysis, financial operations, treasury, accounting, and tax matters. Along with the leadership team, he will be responsible for optimizing and servicing the capital structure of MRC. He will also determine the best combination of equity, debt, and financing structures at both the corporate and project levels.
At Eros STX, O’Connell steered the publicly traded company through its merger and capital raise, and managed financial planning and analysis, corporate development and treasury. Since joining the startup STX in 2015, he also worked to secure the company’s Series C and Series D equity raises, JPMorgan led credit facility and slate co-financings.
“Chris will be a critical part of our leadership team, we welcome him to MRC knowing he’ll drive the business forward with his proven finance track record and entrepreneurial drive,” Satchu and Wiczyk issued a joint statement to Deadline.
“I am thrilled to join the team at MRC,” said O’Connell. “The company has a long history of partnering with visionary artists to deliver premium content and I look forward to contributing to its future growth and success.”
O’Connell began his career in JPMorgan’s technology, media & telecommunications investment banking group, before serving in executive strategic planning, business development and investor relations roles at DreamWorks Animation SKG and The Walt Disney Studios. He holds a BA and MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
MRC’s independent TV studio currently counts ten series which have been picked up or are in production including AppleTV+’s Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd limited series The Shrink Next Door on Nov. 12, season 2 of The Great on Hulu on Nov. 19, as well as Netflix’s Ozark, Amazon’s The Terminal List starring Chris Pratt, Peacock’s Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne, AppleTV+’s Shining Girls starring Elisabeth Moss and Hello Tomorrow!Billy Crudup stars as the title character.
On the feature side, there are seven projects including the recently wrapped The Mothership, starring Halle Berry for Netflix, Jerry and Marge Go Large starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening for Paramount+, and Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson and Henry Goulding, for Netflix. MRC Live & Alternative recently announced its expansion into streaming with the Academy of Country Music Awards on Amazon Prime Video and are in pre-production on the American Music Awards, with showrunner Jesse Collins, to air live on ABC on Nov. 21. MRC Non-FIction released Sparks Brothers, Edgar Wright’s documentary feature debut with Focus Features, and is in production on several projects.