Candle Media, the entertainment and media rollup venture headed by ex-Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, has made two senior hires: Brent Weinstein, a longtime UTA partner, and Salil Mehta, most recently president of FoxNext Games.
Weinstein is slated to join Candle as chief development officer on Feb. 1, while Mehta’s appointment as CFO was effective Jan. 3. Both execs are based in L.A. and report to Mayer and Staggs, co-CEOs of Candle Media.
So far, Candle Media — which is backed by private-equity firm Blackstone — has made three acquisitions: Kids’ media company Moonbug Entertainment, owner of the CoComelon franchise, for about $3 billion; Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine for $900 million; and Faraway Road, producer of Netflix’s “Fauda,” for under $50 million. The company also has made a minority investment in Westbrook, the media company co-founded by Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.
Weinstein will oversee new business development with an emphasis on social media, the creator economy, ecommerce and Web3-centric opportunities. Mehta will lead Candle’s overall financial operations in conjunction with the finance teams at each of the company’s business units.
“We’ve known both Brent and Salil for many years and they are a fantastic addition to our core team at Candle,” Mayer and Staggs said in a statement. “Each brings substantial experience and expertise, and they will be instrumental in facilitating growth across our portfolio of companies and helping us identify new investment and business development opportunities.”
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