Crunchyroll’s COO Brady McCollum Leaves Company – News

Entertainment news website Deadline reported on Friday that Crunchyroll‘s chief operating officer (COO) Brady McCollum is leaving the company after 15 years. McCollum has been working with president Rahul Purini regarding the transition. Chief marketing officer Gita Rebbapragada will replace McCollum at the end of the month.

Barb Bidan will become chief people experience officer. Charles Valentine will lead the information technology and security teams as senior vice president and will report to Bidan. Crunchyroll‘s senior vice president of global commerce, Mitchel Berger, will continue to lead theatrical, content distribution, consumer products and home entertainment/collectibles as well as handle the manga publishing business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Terry Li will become executive vice president of emerging business, while continuing to lead global business development and the games and ecommerce businesses.

McCollulm was one of Crunchyroll‘s first employees and started working there in 2008. He served as executive vice president until August 2022 when he was promoted to COO after Purini became the company’s president. He also led the brand’s international expansion and its commerce rollout.

Funimation‘s longtime COO Purini became Crunchyroll‘s president after former chief executive officer Colin Decker left the company last year.

Crunchyroll laid off about 85 employees in February. Purini informed staff about the layoffs in an email on February 16. The email cites the integration of the Funimation and Crunchyroll teams as the reason behind the terminations. Multiple sources cited that the decision was not a cost-saving measure but rather a matter of resolving redundant roles.

Sony‘s Funimation Global Group completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, after the company first announced the acquisition in December 2020. The purchase price was US$1.175 billion, and the proceeds were paid in cash at closing. Funimation‘s home video releases are now listed under Crunchyroll.

Anime retailer Right Stuf vice president and chief operating officer Christine Morgan left Right Stuf and Crunchyroll as of March 31. Former Right Stuf president and co-founder Shawne Kleckner also left the company last December. Crunchyroll announced in August 2022 that it acquired Right Stuf to expand its ecommerce service. Kleckner and the Right Stuf team then joined Crunchyroll‘s emerging businesses organization, led by Terry Li.

Source: Deadline (Jesse Whittock)