'Hateful Eight' producer joins Activision's film and TV division
Stacey Sher sure knows Hollywood.
Veteran Hollywood producer Stacey Sher is the latest executive addition to Activision Blizzard, the company behind major franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Skylanders, Hearthstone and Destiny. Sher is Co-President of Activision Studios, the company's new film and TV division, where she'll work alongside former Disney executive Nick van Dyk.
Sher's credits make it clear that Activision Studios isn't exactly the Mickey Mouse Club: She's worked on Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Garden State, Erin Brockovich, Along Came Polly, Get Shorty and Reno 911, among others.
The first projects out of Activision Studios will be Skylanders Academy, an animated TV show starring Justin Long and Ashley Tisdale, and a movie franchise based on Call of Duty. Keep in mind that June's Warcraft movie comes courtesy of Legendary Pictures and is not a product of Activision Studios.
Activision is putting its years of financial stability to good use in 2016. It recently bought Candy Crush studio King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion, and launched an in-house eSports division led by former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein and Major League Gaming co-founder Mike Sepso. But it didn't stop there -- just last week, Activision announced it had also acquired MLG's eSports assets and staff, including co-founder Sundance DiGiovanni, for $46 million. With that purchase, Activision plans to build "the ESPN of eSports," according to CEO Bobby Kotick.
