Otter Media

Otter Media Holdings
legal form	Limited Liability Company
founding	April 22, 2014
Seat	Santa Monica , USA
management	Tony Goncalves (CEO) ; Andy Forssell (COO)
Number of employees	1400
Branch	Holding
Website	ottermedia.com

Otter Media is a US digital media holding company owned by WarnerMedia . Crunchyroll , Fullscreen and Rooster Teeth are owned by Otter Media . It holds stakes in Hello Sunshine and Gunpowder & Sky .

history

Otter Media was founded on April 22nd, 2014 as a joint venture between the US telecommunications company AT&T and Peter Chernin's Chernin Group to offer and develop over-the-top services. The Crunchyroll Inc. (later Ellation) was subordinated to Otter Media. In January 2016, Otter Media invested in Van Tofflers (former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music Group) and Floris Bauers Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content company that eventually merged with FilmBuff. Otter Media and actress Reese Witherspoon founded Hello Sunshine in November 2016 , a joint venture focused on telling stories by women on film, television and digital platforms.

Reports first became known in July 2017 after AT&T planned to take over the shares in Otter Media from the Chernin Group and thus become the sole owner of otter Media. Such a deal was valued at around $ 1 billion. Otter Media bought the remaining stake in Ellation , the owner of VRV and Crunchyroll , in January 2018 and integrated it as the Consumer Division of Otter Media. On June 20, 2018, Recode reported that AT&T was on the verge of purchasing Chernin's stake in Otter Media, shortly after acquiring Time Warner (whose digital media inventory included Machinima). On August 7, 2018, AT&T announced the complete acquisition of Otter Media for an undisclosed amount that was estimated at approximately $ 1 billion.

On December 4, 2018, Otter announced a major restructuring that led to the layoff of around ten percent of his employees. As part of the reorganization, Machinima, which was part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, was reorganized under Otter Media. Ellation now housed Rooster Teeth, Crunchyroll and VRV, while Machinima became a division of Fullscreen. Following the restructuring of WarnerMedia , Otter Media became subordinate to WarnerMedia's "Global Kids & Young Adults" department on March 4, 2019. However, on May 31, it was transferred to the WarnerMedia Entertainment division to oversee HBO Max . As part of the restructuring and name change from Ellation to Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth was placed directly under Otter Media in early 2020.