Meredith Bennett and Erik Batt have joined RadicalMedia as, respectively, executive in charge of operations, Media & Entertainment, and head of communications. Bennett is former EP of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and prior to that co-EP of The Colbert Report. Batt is a seasoned entertainment PR executive who’s worked with such outlets as HBO and IFC.
Bennett is responsible for overseeing production and postproduction operations for all Media & Entertainment content for the studio, including film, television, documentary, branded content and short form digital programming, as well as overall management of operations. She will work day-to-day with the creators, writers, directors, and producers to insure the artistic vision is being met and that the various projects remain on schedule and on budget. Bennett will report directly to RadicalMedia Entertainment president Justin Wilkes, working alongside VP/executive producer Dave O’Connor and executive producer Dave Sirulnick. She will also team up with Radical impresario Joe Killian and executive producer Jon Doran, focusing on Radical’s music, brand and live event initiatives, which are currently experiencing a renaissance with the rapid immergence of live digital branded projects.
Batt will be responsible for implementing PR strategies for all company divisions and will work closely with distributors and networks on the promotional campaigns of RadicalMedia productions, including festivals, premieres, events and award submissions. He will also be responsible for all social media initiatives, internal communication, and will oversee corporate and trade press, including highlighting their cutting edge work in commercials, branding, live experiences, and design and technology.
Bennett, a recipient of two Peabody Awards, two Emmys and eight PGA Awards was an EP for CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert which she helped start up for its debut on September 8, 2015. She was also at The Colbert Report as a co-executive producer from the show’s inception in 2005 through its end in December 2014. In addition to regular episodes, Bennett also produced Colbert specials, including ones in Philadelphia for the 2008 presidential primary, the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on the National Mall in Washington, DC in 2010, a 2015 show on location with President Obama in Washington, D.C., segments from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In 2009 she helped produce live-to-tape episodes of The Colbert Report in Baghdad, Iraq, the only time complete shows were broadcast from a war zone. Before Colbert she worked on a variety of programs including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, VH1 Storytellers, MTV’s Unplugged concert series, The Food Network and NBC’s The Jane Pauley Show.
Batt’s extensive years of experience in entertainment media relations include long stints at HBO and IFC, where he was director of consumer publicity, and several years independently consulting on PR projects for HBO, Starz and Netflix. Career highlights include: campaigns for HBO’s pop culture phenomenon Sex and the City and Six Feet Under, the landmark miniseries event Angels in America and Oscar- and Emmy-nominated HBO Documentary Paradise Lost: Purgatory directed by RadicalMedia's Joe Berlinger. Batt helped orchestrate the milestone Monty Python 40th anniversary reunion event in NYC, in conjunction with the promotional campaign for the IFC documentary miniseries, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) and took part in the series launch of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning IFC comedy, Portlandia. On the production side, he was the unit publicist on the first season of the game changing, first Netflix Original series, House of Cards and on the most recent record-breaking season of Starz’ top-rated 50 Cent series, Power. Right before starting at RadicalMedia, he worked on the new season launch of Chef’s Table for Netflix. In addition to his public relations work, Batt is an Ambassador for The Miracle Foundation, a charity dedicated to empowering orphans in India, and is an executive board member of The Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY along with Joy Behar, Richard Kind, Riki Kane Larimer and Scott Schwartz, among others.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Meredith and Erik join the Radical family at this particularly energetic and creative time of expansion for us,” said Jon Kamen, chairman and CEO, RadicalMedia. “We created these positions due to meteoric growth in our Media & Entertainment division, which is thriving with the rapid increase in demand for content, particularly for the premium non-fiction projects for which we are known.”
Frank Scherma, president, RadicalMedia, added, “Given Meredith’s unparalleled experience and expertise in overseeing all aspects of production operations and management and Erik’s many years working closely with networks and talent and promoting a wide variety of premium programming to both trade and consumer press – these additions will solidly position us for even greater things to come in the new year.”
RadicalMedia, which recently won Emmys for the Netflix documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone? and the AOL variety talk show, Park Bench with Steve Buscemi, currently has a dozen series and several films in production. Already announced for 2017 are Abstract: The Art of Design, the eight-part Netflix series, which demystifies the contemporary creative experience by delving into the lives and minds of some of the greatest designers working today, debuting February 10th, after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival; Stan Against Evil, IFC’s comedy-horror series from Emmy-winning writer and EP Dana Gould, will return for season two; and kicking off later in the year on MTV is Going Off, a new and unique dance docuseries set in the studio of master choreographer and YouTube star, Tricia Miranda.
