Former Netflix Senior Exec Cindy Holland Joins Board Of “Blank Check” Firm Horizon Acquisition Corp

Cindy Holland, whose departure from Netflix after an 18-year run this year highlighted the changes rippling through the streaming giant, has joined the board of a newly formed entity called Horizon Acquisition Corp II.

The November 17 appointment was disclosed Monday in an SEC filing. Holland left Netflix in September as Bela Bajaria became global head of TV. Given her pedigree at Netflix, where she worked closely with co-CEO Ted Sarandos to build the massive content operation, her next moves in entertainment have been the subject of active speculation.

By design, though, the exact nature of Horizon’s path is not clear yet. The company, which had a $544 million initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in August, is classified as a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Also known in financial circles as “blank check” companies, SPACs essentially are vehicles for taking other businesses public. They have become popular investment scenarios for a range of media, entertainment and technology players in recent months.

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Horizon is led by Todd Boehly, who also is CEO of Eldridge Industries, a Greenwich, CT-based firm with investments in a range of properties including the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eldridge also is a backer of Media Rights Capital, whose co-CEOs, Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu, are on the Horizon board. MRC, in addition to financing productions like Knives Out and Netflix series including Ozark and House of Cards, owns dick clark productions. MRC recently formed a joint venture called PMRC with Deadline’s parent, Penske Media Corp. As part of the deal, PMC integrated assets including The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard into its portfolio and took a controlling stake, with MRC remaining an investor.

One successful SPAC controlled by former MGM CEO Harry Sloan and onetime CBS entertainment chief Jeff Sagansky played a key role in a merger last spring that created the current incarnation of DraftKings. The sports betting firm’s CEO, Jason Robins, is also on the Horizon board.

Before joining Netflix in its DVD-by-mail days, Holland was VP Business Development for ecommerce company Kozmo.com. She also had stints working on development, production and related agreements for feature films at Mutual Film Co. and Baltimore/Spring Creek Productions.

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