AwesomenessTV makes Kaplan Films president

Kids digital producer and channel operator has hired Matt Kaplan as president of its Awesomeness Films division.

The company has an upcoming slate of 12-to-15 features skewing to its young adult target demo, which it will release theatrically and via its own and third-party digital outlets.

Kaplan joins from Chapter One Films, the movie and prodco he founded in 2013. His credits include Kevin Bacon movie Miranda Drive and Syfy miniseries Ascension.

Prior to setting up his own prodco, Kaplan was senior VP of development and production for Lionsgate Films. He has also been a director of digital development at CBS, where he was responsible for developing and managing online programming for CBS Interactive

He will bring two of his Chapter One team to DreamWorks-owned Awesomeness; Robyn Marshall and Max Siemer.

Brian Robbins (right), founder and CEO AwesomenessTV said: “Major Hollywood studios have largely ignored Generation Z. As we demonstrated with Expelled, which premiered in December and immediately shot to No.1 on iTunes, there is an enormous appetite for movies that speak to this audience.”

Kaplan added: “At Awesomeness Films, we’re excited to take on material that traditional studios just aren’t making and it’s helping us attract top-notch directors and talent to our projects.

“Add in the formidable power of digital creators plus AwesomenessTV and we have an unrivaled ability to connect young adult audiences to feature films like never before.”