Hughes will spearhead opening Vuulr's first United States-based office and building a local team focused on super-serving Hollywood. He will also spearhead all content owners and creators across North and Latin America. Hughes will report directly to Ian McKee, Vuulr's founder and CEO.

While with Lionsgate for nearly nine years, Hughes was responsible for building and operating the company's digital distribution efforts in his most recent role as EVP of Worldwide Digital Distribution.

Prior to this, Hughes was responsible for worldwide digital media at MGM. Earlier in his career, Hughes worked in local media helping blaze the digital trail for companies including Scripps, Media General, Cosmos Broadcasting and Diversified Communications.

"This is a match made in heaven. Having worked inside the four walls of two Hollywood studios during the past 12-plus years, I've experienced first-hand the friction surrounding content transactions of all shapes and sizes," says Hughes. 

"Vuulr solves huge pain-points for the industry. From the buy-side on Vuulr, acquisition teams are sourcing and acquiring content, globally ... faster and easier than ever before. Plus content owners are monetizing catalogs with no up-front fees, which is a unique proposition. I believe Vuulr offers unmatched efficiency and value surrounding content distribution," adds Hughes.

"Hughes is an incredibly experienced and dynamic executive with a rare combination of knowledge from both the buyers' and sellers' perspectives. His experience while with Lionsgate launching SVOD and AVOD services — along with many years of running digital sales, marketing and content operations globally — position him uniquely to help Vuulr grow," concludes McKee.

Launched internationally in January 2020, Vuulr has grown to be the leading online B2B film and TV content marketplace, listing over 130 000 hours of finished content. It additionally lists 4 500 registered, vetted and approved buyers, and has generated over 1 200 licensing transactions in its first year.

The platform features premium film and TV content from producers and distributors including:
  • Sony
  • Legendary Television
  • Gaumont
  • Televisa
  • Viacom 18
  • CNN, and
  • Caracol.
Buyers on Vuulr include:
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • Viacom International Media Networks
  • BBC
  • UKTV
  • Turner International Apac
  • Nordic Entertainment, and
  • MediaCorpZee.
For more information, visit www.vuulr.com. You can also follow Vuulr on Facebook or on Twitter.