EXCLUSIVE: Former FilmNation exec Milan Popelka has joined LuckyChap as a accomplice, becoming a member of the corporate’s present companions Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Margot Robbie.
Popelka, who brings over 15 years of expertise as Chief Operating Officer of FilmNation, will oversee enterprise operations and strategic development throughout LuckyChap’s increasing portfolio of movie, tv, and different ventures. He will play a key position in managing the corporate’s operational and monetary methods, whereas persevering with to advance LuckyChap’s entrepreneurial method to content material creation and manufacturing. Popelka’s huge expertise within the impartial and worldwide gross sales sectors will probably be influential as the corporate appears to ambitiously scale the capabilities of its story-telling platform.
“We are thrilled to have Milan join our team at LuckyChap in a time when entrepreneurialism is at a premium,” mentioned the companions at LuckyChap. “His experience, expertise, and unwavering commitment to maximizing the potential of every project align perfectly with our filmmaker-first ethos. This is an exciting next step in the evolution of LuckyChap, and we look forward to the impact he will make across the company as we pursue new and diverse ways to empower our creative partners.”
Popelka’s spectacular profession consists of serving as govt producer on many acclaimed initiatives, together with present Academy Award nominated movies Anora and Conclave in addition to Arrival, which was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, and Promising Young Woman, which gained the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Other credit embody Greyhound, Red Rocket, The Courier and Late Night (Amazon Studios). Throughout his profession, Popelka has demonstrated a novel means to supply, negotiate, and handle high-profile partnerships and initiatives throughout movie, tv, and digital media.
At FilmNation, Popelka performed a pivotal position in quite a few profitable ventures, together with the creation of the corporate’s $120M multi-use credit score facility, its company capital transaction with Australian public firm Roadshow Films, its UK scripted tv three way partnership with Scandinavian public firm Viaplay, its twin multi-year growth funds throughout each movie and TV with Greek producer/financier Faliro House/Wishmore, and its audio collaborations with each iHeartwork and Luminary. He has additionally managed the corporate’s particular person movie/TV undertaking financing partnerships, in addition to different assorted strategic enterprise investments.
Having joined at its inception, Popelka was an integral a part of FilmNation’s development journey. During his tenure, the corporate was concerned in movies that collectively grossed over $3.5B in worldwide field workplace, with notable previous releases together with Arrival, The Big Sick, The King’s Speech, The Imitation Game, Looper, and Magic Mike amongst many others. His expertise additionally extends to the corporate’s US and UK tv actions, inside which he most just lately served as an Executive Producer on Chris O’Dowd’s Small Town, Big Story (Sky).
Popelka was lively in different story-telling arenas inside the firm as properly. On the digital/audio entrance, Popelka Executive Produced a lot of FilmNation’s latest podcasts, together with important and industrial multi-season hit collection SNAFU hosted by comic/actor Ed Helms (iHeartwork), and Murder On the Towpath hosted by Soledad O’Brien. In the theater house, he was concerned with the corporate’s funding in Empire Street Productions, and diverse particular person undertaking investments on each Broadway and London’s West End (Prima Facie, The Band’s Visit).
A veteran of the leisure trade, Popelka’s profession additionally consists of positions at manufacturing financier Samuels Media (Michael Clayton), CAA’s Independent Finance Group, and McKinsey & Company, the place he gained helpful experience in each inventive and monetary sectors.
Popelka joins LuckyChap at a time when the corporate is actively increasing its footprint in movie, tv, and different entrepreneurial endeavors. As a accomplice, he will probably be instrumental in scaling the corporate’s operations whereas persevering with to take an artist-first method to all of their actions and initiatives.
LuckyChap is a number one leisure firm that produced the worldwide phenomenon Barbie, which grossed over $1.4 billion on the field workplace and garnered eight Academy Award nominations. It additionally produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning movies I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman, and Saltburn, and on the tv aspect, produced the Emmy-nominated restricted collection Maid, the comedy collection Dollface, just lately wrapped manufacturing on Sirens and can quickly start manufacturing on Megan Park’s upcoming drama Sterling Point. LuckyChap’s most up-to-date movie, My Old Ass, was acquired by Amazon MGM Studios after rave critiques at Sundance and is at the moment streaming on Prime Video. LuckyChap is at the moment in manufacturing on Emerald Fennell’s movie Wuthering Heights.
LuckyChap is represented by Entertainment 360, CAA, Attorney Jeff Bernstein