Random House Worlds, the Penguin Random House division used to acquire BOOM! Studios, continued the assimilation of the acquisition with a series of personnel moves and reporting changes. Some BOOM! executives now have larger roles within the group.
Josh Hayes, who was VP-Sales at BOOM!, will now be in charge of sales, distribution, and direct-to-consumer programs for Random House Worlds imprints BOOM! and Inklore as Imprint Sales Director. In that role, he will report to Random House Publishing Group Executive Vice President – Group Sales Director Cynthia Lasky.
Bryce Carlson, who was Vice President-Deputy Publisher at BOOM!, will now be VP, Business Development & Special Projects, Random House Worlds Group, overseeing Kickstarter and DTC initiatives for all Random House Worlds imprints and managing partner and licensor relationships in collaboration with the editorial teams for the group.
Longtime Hasbro executive Michael Kelly, who was brought in as BOOM! publisher in 2024 (see “Random House Completes Acquisition”), is Vice President-Publisher of BOOM!, reporting to Keith Clayton SVP, Publisher of Random House Worlds imprint group, which includes RHWorlds, Disney, Inklore, BOOM! and Del Rey. Kelly has been involved in integrating BOOM! since the acquisition (see “Random House Acquiring BOOM!”).
Random House Worlds VP-Deputy Publisher Julie Leung will add BOOM! to her portfolio. In addition to Carlson, BOOM! Publishing Manager Olivia Dontsov, Del Rey and Random House Worlds Associate Publisher Alex Larned, and Logan Blestrino, Senior Manager, Publishing Operations, Inklore will report to Leung.
BOOM! Marketing Manager Alya Kronsberg and Marketing Associate Crecia Martines will join the Random House Publishing Group marketing team, reporting to Random House Worlds VP, Senior Director of Marketing and Publicity David Moench.
Jan Harned, who became President and Executive Director of Business Management & Publishing Operations for BOOM! Studios after the acquisition, left the company at the end of January (see “Jen Harned to Leave BOOM!”).
Source: ICv2
