Paramount & Disney alum Dan Cohen lands at Black Bear

Paramount’s former distribution chief Dan Cohen has re-emerged at Train Dreams firm Black Bear.

Cohen, who exited as Paramount’s chief content licensing officer a year ago ahead of its acquisition by Skydance, will oversee Black Bear’s licensing infrastructure that exploits films after theatrical release.

The company currently releases 10-12 theatrical titles a year and the upcoming slate includes Sundance hit Wicker and 2027 titles like Jason Statham Stole My Bike.

Cohen becomes head of TV distirbution and will lead newly launched division Black Bear Digital Networks, which will help independent content owners monetise across FAST, AVoD and multicast networks.

It will also serve as a pipeline for Black Bear content alongside third-party libraries, talent, and brands. The service’s inaugural clients include CJ ENM, Tubi, Sinclair Networks, and The National Wrestling Alliance.

Cohen was most recently president of Republic Pictures, overseeing titles such as Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry.

Prior to joining Paramount in 2017, he served 20 years at Disney/ABC where his posts included Walt Disney Studios’ EVP of pay television and digital sales for home entertainment and television distribution.

Black Bear chief exec Teddy Schwarzman said Cohen’s experience “will be invaluable on multiple fronts, as we continue to invest in our US distribution business”.

Cohen added: “There’s a great opportunity to expand the ways Black Bear films reach audiences while also creating new avenues for third-party content owners through Black Bear Digital Networks.”