Random House Publishing Group has completed the acquisition of BOOM! Studios announced in July (see “Random House Acquiring BOOM!“), and announced the management team, including a new hire, most recently from Hasbro, as Publisher.
Just before the acquisition was announced, in June, BOOM! President of Publishing and Marketing Filip Sablik announced he was leaving the company, leaving President – Development Stephen Christy, Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon, and CFO Jen Harned as the remaining top management figures (see “Sablik Leaving BOOM!“). BOOM! CEO Ross Richie had resigned that role in 2021.
Harned, CFO since 2021, has been promoted to President, Executive Director of Business Management & Publishing Operations. Reporting to Harned will be Michael Kelly, the new hire as Publisher, who will manage marketing, sales, and operations, and focus on integrating the company into the larger Penguin Random House operation.
Kelly spent over 17 years at Hasbro, finishing as G.I. Joe Franchise Creative Lead. He also spent time as Vice President and in other roles in Global Publishing, managing Hasbro’s outbound publishing licenses, including comics and graphic novels. In that role, he built the business to over 1,000 new titles a year worldwide.
For nearly three years, Kelly also served as IT/Business Systems Integration Liaison, coordinating business teams and IT and systems vendors on a major roll-out, a role that makes him a good fit for the PRH integration portion of his portfolio.
Bryce Carlson, who was promoted to BOOM! Studios VP Editorial & Creative Strategy from Managing Editor in 2018 (see “BOOM! Promotions“), has been promoted to VP, Deputy Publisher, and will report to Kelly. VP, Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon and Michelle Ankley, Director, Design, will report to Carlson.
Also reporting to Kelly will be VP Sales Josh Hayes; Director, Operations Stephanie Lazarski; and Director, Marketing Ryan Matsunaga.
Source: ICv2
