Independent studio Sonar Entertainment has hired industry veterans Matt Loze and Scott Packman. BBC Studios’ Loze will serve as EVP, Development & Production, and Packman as Senior EVP, Chief Strategy Officer, General Counsel & Head of Business Affairs.
Loze will lead Sonar’s scripted division, overseeing the development of premium content with global appeal as well as the company’s slate of current productions and first-look deals. He succeeds Jenna Santoianni who left in March to join Paramount TV as head of development.
“We are very excited to have Matt at Sonar,” said Sonar CEO Tom Lesinski. “His creative sensibilities, extensive experience in television development and production, and industry relationships make him the perfect choice to run our television business.”
Loze recently led Scripted Entertainment for BBC Studios, overseeing their library, first-look deals, and selling British formats into development at Netflix, Showtime, Fox, FX, AMC, HBO and A&E. Loze has also held executive positions with Fox Television Studios, Fox 21 TV Studios, Fremantle North America and Trilogy Entertainment, with credits including Genius: Einstein for Nat Geo; Damien for A&E; Burn Notice, White Collar, and Graceland for USA. In total, he has overseen over 350 hours of cable and new media content.
Packman will lead corporate strategy and Sonar’s business and legal affairs team. He will also work closely with global department heads on all vital company business.
“Scott is highly regarded across the media industry and brings an unmatched level of strategic, operational and legal expertise to Sonar,” added Lesinski. “He will play a pivotal role in growing our business moving forward.”
Packman most recently founded SSP Partners, which identifies and advises on strategic investment opportunities for private equity firms and institutional investors. Before that, Packman spent 14 years as a senior executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including 12 years as General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, where he oversaw all worldwide legal and business affairs and risk management and served a key role in MGM’s financing, mergers and acquisitions, and distribution efforts. Prior to MGM, Packman held an executive position at Creative Planet and practiced at the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP.
Sonar Entertainment, which last December raised $121 Million in production financing to continue its programming expansion, is currently in production on The Hunt for Amazon Prime Video and recently wrapped production on season three of Mr. Mercedes for AT&T Audience Network and Utopia Falls for Canada’s CBC Gem. Sonar series that have aired in 2019 include Weird City for YouTube Premium; Lorena for Amazon Prime Video; Go Away Unicorn! for Disney; the second season of The Son for AMC; and Das Boot for Hulu.
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