With the resignation of Andy Sareyan taking effect this month Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) has announced the promotions of Kirsty Melville and Brent Bartram to fill top positions at the company.
Earlier this month AMU made note of Kirsty Melville being promoted to chief executive officer:
Kansas City, MO (February 6, 2024) – The Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) board of directors has named Kirsty Melville chief executive officer of AMU effective February 6, 2024. Melville is the third person to assume the role of CEO of the company and will oversee all AMU operations. She will continue as president and publisher of Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP).
“Kirsty’s leadership of our publishing division has been exceptional,” said AMU Chairman Hugh Andrews. “Her initiatives have enabled AMP to grow in unprecedented ways, advancing a culture of excellence and cultivating relationships with creators, associates, and business partners to our great advantage for many years. I am confident that in her expanded role as CEO she will continue to address challenges, seek new opportunities, and fuel AMU’s success across our publishing, syndication, digital, and entertainment divisions.”
As publisher, Melville helped drive the continued success of AMP’s comics and humor categories with Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) features, including introducing popular formats for the New York Times bestselling Calvin and Hobbes and Big Nate with The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium and the Big Nate middle grade graphic novel series. She also initiated the reissue of The Far Side® Off-the-Wall Calendar, the nation’s bestselling calendar. Additional New York Times bestsellers include those featuring Doonesbury, Pearls Before Swine and Phoebe and Her Unicorn, among others. With Melville as president and publisher, AMP transformed numerous web comics into New York Times bestsellers as well, including offerings from The Oatmeal, Sarah’s Scribbles, and Catana Comics.
“I am energized and excited to assume the CEO position,” said Melville…
Read the full press release here.
Yesterday Kirsty made public the promotion of Brent Bartram to president of Andrews McMeel Syndication:
Kansas City, MO (February 20, 2024) – Brent Bartram, chief strategy officer of Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) and general manager of Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) has been named president of AMS, announced Kirsty Melville, chief executive officer of AMU.
“Brent has been an outstanding leader of our syndication division,” said Melville. “In a challenging environment for the newspaper industry and as a result, for syndicators of content, AMS has not receded but has in fact significantly grown under his tutelage. In the past two years, eight renowned features have joined AMS from other entities, a remarkable accomplishment which has significantly grown revenue for the division. We are confident that Brent will continue to guide AMS to even greater achievements in the future.”
“AMS has made great progress in the last couple of years against significant industry headwinds,” said Bartram. “All of this success is due to the great catalogue of features we offer and the great editorial, production, and sales teams who not only work to distribute our great content but are huge fans as well. I look forward to continuing to build on this progress.”
Read the full press release here.
The new organizational structure:
