WarnerMedia has today announced the appointment of Joel Kennedy as Director of Local Film Production and Acquisitions, UK and Ireland. Based in London, Kennedy will report to Neil Marshall, SVP Theatrical Distribution, WarnerMedia UK and Ireland. Kennedy joins the company today, 7th June.

In his new role, Kennedy will be responsible for identifying and acquiring local productions as well as all aspects of the delivery process, including sourcing and script development, contract negotiation, and producer and sales agent liaison.

Kennedy joins from independent film and TV financier Lorton Entertainment where he packaged titles, managed acquisitions, sales and distribution and executive produced projects including ‘Diego Maradona’, ‘Horrible Histories: The Movie’ and ‘Bros: When The Screaming Stops’. Prior to this, Kennedy spent six years at EOne where he led the acquisition of titles including ‘I, Tonya’, ‘The Death of Stalin’ and ‘Finding Your Feet’.

Commenting on the appointment, Neil Marshall said: “Joel has a track record of identifying, developing, and delivering high-profile titles and is well respected within the independent production community. Our local production and acquisition business is going from strength to strength, and the UK and Ireland are vital markets for us. Having Joel on board will help us continue to bring audiences more new and ambitious local titles to complement our world-famous and much-loved US content, which WarnerMedia has long been known for.”

Joel Kennedy added: “WarnerMedia’s bold and ambitious, world-leading content speaks for itself. I look forward to working with Neil and the team to bring audiences both at home and abroad some of the UK and Ireland’s best new and original titles.”