Jeeun Kim & Allison Brightman Named Co-Heads Of Newly Combined CBS Entertainment & CBS Studios Business Affairs Department

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

CBS has set the structure and leadership of the CBS Entertainment and CBS Studios business affairs operations in preparation for the pending departure of Deborah Barak, CBS’ longtime President of Business Operations.

Joining the company is Netflix business affairs executive Jeeun Kim. She and longtime CBS Studios business affairs executive Allison Brightman have been named EVPs and co-heads of Business Affairs for CBS. They will lead a newly combined department for CBS Studios and CBS Entertainment. The units previously operated separately under Barak, who announced plans in January to leave the company at the end of the year.

Kim, who previously worked with CBS Entertainment Group president and CEO George Cheeks at NBCUniversal, will serve as the point person for CBS Entertainment, and Brightman for CBS Studios, while they partner to manage the combined team together. Both will report to Bryon Rubin, who earlier today was named Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for CBS Entertainment Group, and work closely with CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl and CBS Studios president David Stapf.

The consolidation of the two BA departments is not expected to lead to layoffs as both units are lean following the companywide ViacomCBS layoffs in the spring, which impacted the CBS BA operations.

“As we structure the CBS Business Affairs department for the future, we will benefit significantly from Allison and Jeeun’s expertise and experience,” said Rubin. “Both are well versed in the financial and operational nuances of linear television, cable and streaming. They are excellent leaders, strategic thinkers and they have long-standing relationships with the talent, production, business and legal communities. I’m excited to have them lead our newly structured team.”

Brightman, who has been with CBS for almost a decade and a half, was named EVP, CBS Studios in January. She is responsible for overseeing all “above-the-line” deals for the studio’s development and production of series for CBS, CBS All Access and the CW, as well as third-party platforms. Brightman has also overseen the studio’s many overall term deals with writers, producers and directors.

She joined the studio in 2006 as VP Business Affairs and was promoted to SVP in 2012. In 2017, she added business affairs responsibilities for the company’s streaming service CBS All Access to her portfolio. Prior to joining CBS, she worked as senior legal counsel at HBO since 1998.

Kim most recently served as Director, Business Affairs (Original Series) for Netflix, where she led a team of negotiators handling development, production and license deals for scripted development projects and series.

She spent 16 years at NBCUniversal in various divisions including NBC, USA, Syfy, UCP and Universal Television. She was SVP Business Affairs from 2015-2018; VP Business Affairs from 2007; VP Legal Affairs from 2006; and has held senior legal counsel positions since 2002. Kim began her career as a lawyer.

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