David Ellender is Chief Executive Officer for Halcyon Studios.
David Ellender was President, Global Distribution and Co-productions for Sonar Entertainment from April 2016 to August 2019. In this role, Ellender led worldwide program sales for the studio across traditional and digital media platforms for acclaimed international series such as Taboo, starring Tom Hardy, and The Son, starring Pierce Brosnan. Ellender successfully oversaw the company’s expansion into key markets, including Europe, Asia and Latin America. Ellender was also instrumental in helping to build Sonar’s international co-production drama initiatives, adding Das Boot and Les Norton, among others into the company’s slate of offerings. Prior to Sonar Entertainment, Ellender served as CEO and Board Member for Slingshot Global Media, an independent television studio he founded in January 2014 to source, develop, fund, produce and distribute high-quality scripted content.
Earlier in his career, Ellender was CEO of Fremantle Media Enterprises (FME) and served on the board of directors of Fremantle Media Group. Ellender joined the company as Managing Director in 2001 and then was promoted to CEO in 2006. During his tenure at FME, revenues more than tripled. He’s also held senior positions as Managing Director, Europe for Universal Studios Television Distribution and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) where he served as Global President of TV and had a seat on the PFE Board.
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