Last week, Amazon Studios/Prime Video senior VP announced that Chris Brearton was leaving Amazon “to pursue a new opportunity outside the company.” Now we know what that opportunity is: Brearton, who had most recently served as vice president of Prime Video Studios Corporate Strategy at MGM+ and MGM Alternative Television, has joined indie media company AGBO as a partner.
At AGBO, he will join company leaders Anthony and Joe Russo (the directors who co-founded the company in 2017) and partner Donald Mustard. As partner, Brearton will oversee “all aspects of the company’s business strategy, operations and growth moving forward.”
“Chris is a dynamic and trusted leader in the industry with a proven ability to spearhead transformational strategic initiatives, drive operational excellence, and foster a culture of creativity and innovation,” said AGBO co-founder Anthony Russo in a statement. “His expertise and business acumen will be instrumental as we embark on this pivotal phase of accelerated growth across virtual, gaming, and linear media landscapes.”
At Amazon, Brearton helped integrate MGM into the company, having previously served as chief operating officer at MGM. Brearton was instrumental in overseeing the $8.5 billion sale of the studio to Amazon. Prior to MGM, Brearton led the Century City office of global law firm Latham & Watkins as managing partner.
Brearton reps the latest major hire by AGBO following the arrival of Mustard, who joined as partner in November. Mustard, the former chief creative officer at Epic Games and co-founder of ChAIR Entertainment, oversaw the growth of Fortnite as a gaming powerhouse. At AGBO, Mustard is charged with overseeing AGBO’s “expansion of community-driven interactive and immersive experiences in games and virtual worlds.”
“Donald’s groundbreaking creative approach transforms games into cultural phenomena and record-breaking successes,” co-founder Joe Russo said in a statement. “As veterans in their respective fields, Donald and Chris embrace both the complexity and opportunity presented by ever-evolving technologies and modes of storytelling. With their expertise, we will leverage our creative machinery to champion best-in-class world-building while concurrently developing, producing, and releasing expressions across multiple types of media.”
The Russos, Mustard, Brearton and chief creative officer Angela Russo-Otstot now make up the key leadership team at AGBO.
“Anthony, Joe, and Donald are pioneers in this industry, and AGBO stands at the vanguard of the new media frontier as a trailblazing studio,” Brearton said in a statement. “I am excited to work with this innovative team as they turn their ambitious and creative vision to accelerate transformational world-building and global franchises across all media platforms into a reality.”
