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Whitney Abeel and Melissa Stankowski have been promoted into new marketing roles at premium content service Starz, with Abeel upped to senior vice president, originals and digital marketing and Stankowski moving up to senior vice president, brand and creative.

Abeel will supervise original series marketing, including strategy development, campaign creative, consumer activations, partnerships and social initiatives. Stankowski will lead brand marketing and creative services, including production, design and video teams. Both women will report to Starz Chief Marketing Officer Jimmy Hilburn.

In addition, Brandt Haynes has joined Starz as senior vice president, distribution, overseeing digital partner management, partner marketing and strategic planning. He reports to Sofia Chang, executive vice president and chief distribution officer. Chang also named Todd Hoy senior vice president, distribution, overseeing business development, distribution deal strategy and traditional partner relations. All of the changes fall under the purview of Alison Hoffman, president, domestic networks at Starz.

“The strategic changes to our distribution team including Brandt and Todd in these key leadership roles will help us continue to solidify our position as the industry’s partner of choice,” said Hoffman. “And we’re thrilled to elevate Whitney and Melissa who have consistently raised the bar in marketing our programming and the STARZ brand with their bold vision and impeccable taste.”

Abeel has been with Starz for more than a decade, starting as specialist with originals marketing.In that time, Abeel has launched such series and franchises as Outlander, Power and its expanded universe, Gaslit and P-Valley. Prior to joining Starz, Abeel worked in ABC’s integrated marketing department. She’s based in Santa Monica with Stankowski.

Stankowski has been with Starz since 2021, when she joined as executive director of brand. She was promoted to vice president of creative services later that year. While in that role, she spearheaded Starz’ brand redesign across a 63-country footprint, including the rebrand of Starzplay to Lionsgate+ in 35 territories around the world.

Prior to joining Starz, Stankowski was editor-in-chief at FAST channel STIRR and held key positions at Sony Pictures Television. She began her career in television production at NFL Films. She is based in Santa Monica.

Haynes joins Starz with more than 20 years of experience. Most recently, he served as chief operating officer and head of transformation at Girl Scouts of the USA. Prior to working in the non-profit sector, Haynes led digital subscription and transactional revenue generation at HBO, HBO Max and Pushkin. Haynes is based in New York.

Hoy has held multiple executive roles at Starz, most recently heading all legal support in launching 13 region-specific versions of Starz across 37 countries over a two-year period and coordinating joint ventures and partnerships in 16 additional countries. Previously, Hoy had been the lead attorney overseeing Starz U.S. distribution, content acquisition, marketing and technology licensing. Hoy served as a core strategist in the launch of the Starz app and expansion into OTT distribution within the U.S. and globally.

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