Some more conventional comings and goings from email and Linked In:
• Kristen Koerner Simon has joined IDW as Group Editor, Graphic Novel Series & Foreign Acquisitions, where she will be tasked to “work closely with the entire editorial staff (for both original and licensed series), freelance creators and both freelance and in-house production departments to develop a dynamic slate of collected edition books, original graphic novels and special projects for multiple sales channels and audiences.”
Simon was most recently Editor In Chief at Netmarble, and previously held positions at Atomic Crush, Skybound MAD Event Management, and was previously EDitor in Chief at Image studio Shadowline Productions.
• Boom! Studios as gone on a hiring and promotions spree! Maybe from all the profits on that BRZRKR book.
Shantel LaRocque has joined as Senior Editor. She previously worked as an editor at Dark Horse Comics for over 10 years, overseeing multiple licensed publishing programs for Minecraft and Disney, as well as creator-owned titles such as Stephen McCranie’s Space Boy, Henchgirl, Bandette, and Spell on Wheels.
Jon Moisan has joined as Acquisition Editor. He brings over a decade of experience to his new role, having started his career in editorial at Marvel Comics where he worked on bestselling titles such as Secret Wars, Thor, and more. After honing his skills, he joined Skybound where he edited titles like I Hate This Place, Redneck, and the multiple Eisner Award-nominated Stillwater.
Breanna Sarpy has been promoted to Manager, Digital Marketing & Advertising. Sarpy began as a BOOM! Studios’ Executive Assistant in 2018, before moving to the Marketing team where she took on various aspects of BOOM! Studios’ digital growth initiatives and advertising, including hosting the company’s video interview series, BOOM! Chat.
Harley Salbacka has been promoted to Sales Lead. Salbacka joined BOOM! Studios as a Retail Sales Coordinator in 2021 where she oversaw a variety of responsibilities in the comic book specialty and book markets. Previously, Harley was Sales & Marketing Representative at Humanoids and prior to that spent five years in comics retail.
Manny Castellanos has joined as Sales Coordinator. Castellanos was previously Director of Retail-Sales Development for publisher Mad Cave Studios from 2018 – 2022, where he established a communicative relationship with the direct market and directed the sales campaigns for hit comic book series such as Nottingham and The Last Session.
Greg Hopkins has joined as Retail Sales Coordinator. Hopkins joins BOOM! Studios with 17+ years of comic experience, from owning a comic shop to producing and distributing comic exclusives for acclaimed illustrators, including Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Derrick Chew, Kunkka, Ejikure, Alan Quah, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Leirix. Hopkins also owned and operated North Florida Comic Con for six years. He was also co-creator of Comic Conline, wherein he teamed up to produce 3-day online conventions to help bring creators support after conventions were shut down to the pandemic.
And a few more from my Linked In notifications (some of them a few months old but never too late to congratulate.)
• Marisa Stotter has left IDW to join Amazon Studios as
• Christine Dinh has joined StarTrek.com after a long stint at Marvel Comics.
• Tucker Stone has joined Astra Books where he’ll serve as executive editor of Toon Books. He was formerly at distributor Consortium, and continues on at TCJ.Com.
• This one is kinda stinks: Rob Pereyda, formerly Head of Anime, Editorial & Publishing, Global Anime Strategy at Netflix was among those laid off last month. If you know anything about the last two and a half years, it’s that half the world seems to have survived the pandemic by binging anime on Netflix. Despite this massive global success, Pereyda, who has Viz, Bandai and Crunchyroll on his resume, was deemed unnecessary and let go. But given the ongoing massive worldwide anime obsession, he’s sure to find a new position soon.
• Finally, director of publicity Tara Lehmann announced she is leaving Oni – but a new position seems to be looming:
Even though I’ve known this day was coming for a few weeks now, it’s still surreal to announce that tomorrow is my last day at Oni Press. While I am sad to leave my talented coworkers & creators, I am very excited for what comes next. Stay tuned for more details next week.
Congrats and best wishes to all!
