London publicity firm WDW Entertainment has rebranded as WDM Entertainment and unveiled a new leadership team.
The arts and entertainment communications agency, which was co-founded by CEO Amy Dowd in 2017, has welcomed industry veteran Daniel Maynard as managing director while Frankie Mendola and Sarah Wareing have been upped to associate directors. The agency’s new name reflects the surnames of WDM’s revised leadership and shareholders.
Dowd and Maynard will also sit on the outfit’s board alongside CFO Evi Dennison.
Maynard, who boasts over 20 years experience in media and entertainment in both in-house, consultancy and agency roles, previously worked as VP for communications (television and DTC) at Walt Disney EMEA, where he launched Disney+ across 17 markets, among other initiatives. Maynard has also held senior roles at 21st Century Fox, National Geographic, Freuds, BBC and Microsoft and is a member of the BAFTA television committee.
WDM, which offers a range of publicity services across TV and streaming, film and awards, arts and impact and corporate communications, has also inked a strategic partnership with unit publicty agency Unitworks, founded by industry veteran Alyssa Taffet. The partnership enables WDM to offer companies and projects full end-to-end support. Recent projects include “Ted Lasso,” “Bad Sisters” and “The Full Monty.”
The newly rebranded firm has also brought on board a host of new clients including Warner Bros. Discovery, Dorothy Street Pictures, Hot Coals Productions, the recently launched Skills Task Force led by former Amazon Studios Europe exec Georgia Brown and inclusivity and accessibility agency Bridge06. They join existing clients Disney, Netflix, National Geographic, Lionsgate, BAFTA, SISTER, See-Saw Films, EE, Newport Beach Film Festival UK Honours, The Society of London Theatre and The Old Vic.
A female and queer-led company, WDM is putting inclusivity at the heart of its re-org and has committed to putting 10% of net profits into supporting new talent initiatives spotlighting under-represented voices in the industry.
“Since setting up the company six years ago, our focus has been building our core client base, stellar team, company culture and establishing WDM Entertainment as a leading entertainment agency in the U.K.,” said Dowd. “The growth announced today reflects our ambitions for the future of WDM Entertainment as we expand our team and strategic partners along with our vision and mission. Whilst our continued priority will be to deliver world-class communications, publicity and awards campaigns, part of our focus will be to redirect some of our profits back into talent who remain marginalised across the industry.”
