By Variety | Created at 2025-01-08 18:24:45 | Updated at 2025-01-14 11:34:49
5 days ago
Josh Goldstine, the Warner Bros. marketing chief who spearheaded the “Barbie” promotional campaign heard ’round the world, is stepping down. The studio’s head of international distribution Andrew Cripps is also departing his role.
As part of the major shakeup, longtime Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein has been elevated to oversee all aspects of the company’s global theatrical exhibition efforts. Goldstein’s promotion and Cripps and Goldstine’s departures are part of a structural reorganization at the studio as the movie theater business at large attempts to regain its footing after the pandemic and two labor strikes.
“In building for the future, we have made the decision to realign our business unit with a singular global operation at its center to offer greater alignment for all our team members in the years ahead,” Warner Bros. co-chiefs Michael DeLuca and Pam Abdy said in a statement.
Goldstine joined the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group in 2021 after spending seven years at Universal Pictures. He led the campaigns for such commercial hits as “Dune,” “The Batman,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Wonka,” but he’s best known for orchestrating the pink publicity machine of “Barbie” that’s sure to be studied in college courses on marketing. Of course, there were duds along the way like “Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom,” “The Flash” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
“For the last several years, I have had the great privilege to work alongside a team whom I deeply admire and who brought their very best to every campaign across every imaginable genre of movie,” Goldstine wrote in a note to staff. “As I look ahead to my next chapter, I take with me many wonderful memories of my time with all of you and applaud your achievements across each film you so thoughtfully brought to audiences around the world.”
Cripps has spent over five years at Warners, navigating the studio’s international releases of “Dune,” Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and “Barbie” through the industry-altering pandemic crisis — and aftermath — as well as the actors and writers strikes that upended the release calendar and forced another slew of delays.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, through the ravages of covid and the seismic changes that the industry has seen but it is the people and the international team that has really made my time here so special,” Cripps wrote in an internal memo. “I know you will continue to give them and the company your full support and make our films as successful as possible. I will be here to help with transition plans but wanted to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you for everything you do day in and day out.”
Dana Nussbaum and Christian Davin will be stepping in on an interim basis to oversee the global marketing team. Meanwhile, John Stanford, who is the current executive VP of creative advertising, will serve as the interim head of theatrical creative advertising for upcoming releases across Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios. They will all report to Abdy and DeLuca.
“We look forward to working more closely with Dana, Christian, and John as we continue to reach moviegoing audiences worldwide,” DeLuca and Abdy concluded their memo to staff. “We are grateful for the contributions of this entire team, and we are incredibly proud of the work you all do every day. Creatively, we have the great privilege to partner with some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers across every genre of film, and we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”
