Apple TV+ has made a key hire for its top marketing job, and it’s a big “get.”
Ricky Strauss, best known for selling “Star Wars” and Marvel movies to the world, has been named head of Apple TV+ marketing. In his new role, Strauss will oversee the campaigns across original series and films for the streamer, which is led by heads of worldwide video Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht. Strauss will be part of Apple’s marketing communications team, serving under its vice president, Tor Myhren. He will be based in Culver City. Apple TV+ recently released “Emancipation” with Will Smith, and scored with the likes of “Ted Lasso” and “CODA,” last year’s best picture winner at the Oscars.
Strauss joins as Apple TV+ has made some changes to its marketing team, with the likes of film marketing chief J.P. Richards and video marketing head Chris Van Amburg leaving the company over the past year.
Popular on Variety
Previously, Strauss served for more than nine years at Disney, where he most recently served as president of content and marketing for Disney+. In that role, he helped guide the launch of the service and also acted as president of programming for Hulu and Disney+.
Before making the transition into production, he was president of marketing for The Walt Disney Studios, where he worked on such blockbusters as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “The Avengers,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Jungle Book,” “Cinderella,” “Maleficent,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Frozen,” “Moana” and “Incredibles 2.” Their success made him one of the most respected figures in the film industry.
Strauss joined Disney after seven years as president of Participant Media, where he worked on “The Help,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “The Cove” and “Waiting for “Superman.” Many of those films had social justice campaigns.
