Rishi Malhotra Tapped to Lead Luminary as CEO, Dave Chappelle’s Pilot Boy Productions Invests
01.03.2022 - 21:01
/ variety.com
Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaRishi Malhotra has been tapped to lead Luminary as the subscription audio platform’s new CEO. In his new role, Malhotra, the founder and former CEO of the Indian online music streaming service JioSaavn, will reposition the company around a few key areas of content, bolstering Luminary’s sports, music and comedy programming.Malhotra replaces Simon Sutton, the former HBO president who joined the company two and a half years ago.
Sutton will remain on Luminary’s board of directors.In addition, Luminary announced that Dave Chapelle’s Pilot Boy Productions has invested in Luminary. Pilot Boy will also join Luminary’s board of directors with its seat filled by Ben Jealous, a civil rights leader and investor who is a longtime friend of Chapelle.
Two additional new members will also join Jealous on Luminary’s board — Heather Hiles, managing partner at Black Ops Ventures, a VC fund built to invest in tech startups founded exclusively by Black entrepreneurs, and Mara Buxbam, president of ID, one of the entertainment industry’s leading publicity and communications firms. Since launching in 2018 as kind of “Netflix of podcasts,” Luminary has partnered with a number of big names, including Chappelle, Roxane Gay, Russell Brand, Lena Dunham, Guy Raz, yasiin bey (formerly known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli.
Along with bey and Kweli, Chapelle is a creator and executive producer of Luminary original “The Midnight Miracle,” and he also executive produces additional audio content at Luminary.“I chose Luminary because they value artists and share my vision for re-imagining audio content,” Chappelle said in a statement. “‘The Midnight Miracle’ and our unique format is changing the podcast
.