Kenan Thompson’s Artists For Artists Appoints Mike Blutstein As Vice President, Feature And Television Development

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Mike Blutstein has been appointed to the new position of Vice President, Feature and Television Development at Kenan Thompson and John Ryan Jr.’s production company, Artists for Artists.

In his role at AFA, Blutstein will be responsible for developing feature films, series and podcasts in both the scripted and unscripted space for global audiences, working closely with artists and partners of the company, while pursuing new business. He comes to the company with experience across development, production, digital media and artist representation, and is particularly passionate about championing elevated stories with hooks into modern culture, which is furthered by his experience in the Web3/Blockchain spaces.

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“Mike is hands down one of the best in the business, with impeccable taste and deep relationships. His track record speaks for itself,” said AFA’s co-founder and CEO, Ryan. “Kenan and I look forward to working alongside Mike, and developing his exciting slate at Artists for Artists.”

“Kenan and Johnny are masters of their craft,” added Blutstein, “and I cannot wait to work alongside them to help AFA connect to modern audiences through stories that are forward-thinking, noisy, and fun.”

Blutstein joins from John Goldwyn Productions, where he was Vice President, serving as an executive on such series as Hulu’s Dopesick, Peacock’s MacGruber and Charter’s Manhunt: Deadly Games. The company’s development slate included features such as Guys and Dolls, to be directed by Bill Condon for Sony TriStar. Blutstein was previously at A3 Artists Agency, where in only six months, he was promoted from assistant to agent, and helped represent a roster of high-profile influencers and digital tastemakers. He began his career at Saturday Night Live in 2016.

SNL‘s Thompson and former FilmEngine COO Ryan have been very active through Artists for Artists since launching the company in December of last year. It’s a 360 incubator for artists to create and produce their own content, as a full service production company with a commerce division, and bespoke management representation. AFA builds companies with artists and brands that the artists and brands themselves co-own, while partnering with global distributors. It recently partnered with actors Gianni Paolo and Michael Rainey Jr., who star together in the Starz spinoff series Power Book II: Ghost, to fund their production company Twenty Two Entertainment, which will produce films, TV series, and multimedia ventures, launching with the podcast The Crew Has It.

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