Adrian Sexton

CEO, New Medici (Former Digital Head, Lionsgate and Participant Media)

Adrian Sexton is Co-Founder & CEO of New Medici LLC, a media strategy + lifestyle innovation network.

As former digital head of two media companies, Lionsgate and Participant Media, and co-founding partner of TAG Strategic consultancy, Sexton brings a hybrid background in operational digital strategy, product development, social and viral marketing and distribution.

Sexton and his team’s passion is building audiences and platforms in untapped areas across digital and traditional platforms. New Medici clients include digital studios, live event and branded entertainment agencies, social media applications and DIY platforms, and film distributors.

Before New Medici, Sexton was Executive Vice President, running digital at Participant Media. He was responsible for managing the company’s expansion into global media, digital distribution and marketing. He architected TakePart.com, a social marketing and entertainment portal. Traffic across the site and acquired sites grew 1000% year over year during Sexton’s tenure. Sexton recently worked on such Participant films as Food Inc., The Soloist, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Kite Runner, and the Academy Award®-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

Sexton came to Participant from TAG Strategic, a digital media and entertainment agency he co-founded with EMI veteran Ted Cohen. TAG’s diverse client roster has included Qualcomm, Sandisk, Participant, Eyespot, Lionsgate, LimeWire and LivePlanet.

Before forming TAG, Sexton headed Digital Media as Vice President at Lionsgate, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations, production, media planning and business development for digital and mobile properties. His duties encompassed theatrical, home entertainment, television, international and physical studios. He oversaw the digital campaigns for such movies as Best Picture Academy Award®-winning Crash, Monster’s Ball, Fahrenheit 9/11, and the SAW and Tyler Perry franchises; as well as digital cinema initiatives with BMW Films and Microsoft.

Sexton identified multiple-platform marketing, distribution and sales opportunities for the studio’s 8000+ title film library in such high-growth markets as broadband, mobile, digital cinema, peer-to-peer and IPTV. Lionsgate’s market capitalization rose from $60 million to $1.2 billion during Sexton’s tenure; and, he was part of the team which secured the $350 million credit facility to acquire Artisan Entertainment.

Prior to Lionsgate, Sexton was the New Media Director at Mediapact Capital, a $500M media management and investment capital firm which took over management of Lionsgate. His professional experience also includes work in television at Sony Pictures Entertainment, production and development at HBO Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Saban Entertainment.

A frequent media presenter, Sexton delivered a media and entertainment keynote at the 2009 X Media Lab in Auckland, the studio keynote at the Opening Forum of the 60th Anniversary of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, as well as keynotes at the 2007 Digital Hollywood, 2006 Intel Viiv launch in Tokyo and 2006 Forrester conference in São Paulo. In addition, New Medici won the 2009 British Airways/Harvard Business Review Face of Opportunity award.

Sexton has served as an arts advisory member of non-profits American Democracy Institute, Games For Change and the Los Angeles Film Festival. Additionally, he is on the Interactive Media Peer Group Awards Committee for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and a New Media Council member of the Producers Guild of America.