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Walter Schonfeld Appointed President, Deluxe Distribution

Former CEO of localization company SDI Media Group is tapped to oversee delivery, localization and digital cinema operations; Robert Julian appointed company CFO.

NEW YORK -- Deluxe Entertainment Services Group has announced the appointment of Walter Schonfeld as President, Deluxe Distribution. In this role, he will lead worldwide operations for Delivery, Localization and Digital Cinema. With the growing demand for content, the versioning and distribution required to monetize video worldwide has grown increasingly more complex. Schonfeld’s selection underscores Deluxe’s commitment to providing its customers with the most reliable and integrated distribution services platform in the industry.

Previously the President of Digital Cinema Global Operations at Deluxe, Schonfeld brings decades of industry experience to his new role, together with a track record of implementing workflows and technology to transform client services. Since joining Deluxe in 2016, Schonfeld has led efforts yielding significant operational enhancements to the Digital Cinema business and will now carry this strong operational improvement and efficiency across the Delivery and Localization operations.

“Walter has deep experience in the industry and a clear understanding of what it takes to meet our customer’s needs and expectations in this increasingly complex market,” said Deluxe’s CEO John Wallace. “We are seeing our customers expand their content requirements across multiple geographies with compressed timelines.  Having all of Deluxe’s content management and distribution services under one roof will simplify things for our valued customers while better enabling us to meet their global needs.”

Schonfeld is the former CEO of localization company SDI Media Group, where he led its successful turnaround; introducing technology-based tools and services to maximize its scale and scope, integrating global operations. Previously, he was President of Technicolor’s Worldwide Entertainment Services Group for six years, and was instrumental in transitioning the company to digital services and expanding the geographic scope of its operations.

“I appreciate the hard work and support that everyone at Digital Cinema has put in to keep it the industry’s leading digital cinema organization,” Schonfeld said. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the Localization and Delivery teams and together helping them shape the future of this global industry.”

To help guide the company as it continues to create more efficient operations capable of serving the growing appetite for content around the world, Deluxe has also appointed Robert Julian as Chief Financial Officer. “It is truly an exciting time to join the Deluxe team,” said Julian. “I am looking forward to making a contribution to this world-class business. The focus and direction of the company is inspiring.”

With over 30 years of financial leadership experience, Julian’s expertise will be a valued contribution to Deluxe’s innovative and talented team. Among these experiences is a strong background in developing and leading high performing finance and accounting teams within major technology firms. He has worked with globally respected companies such as Cisco Systems, Honeywell, Rockwell International, Lydall Inc., Legrand S.A. and Fisher Scientific.  He most recently served as chief financial officer of Callaway Golf.

Wallace said, “Robert’s 30 years of financial leadership experience -- particularly his work in the tech space – will support the progress our teams have made under the leadership of our outgoing CFO, Neil Davidson, who has decided to pursue other opportunities.  As Deluxe moves to evolve its offerings around the core tenets of scale, efficiency and automation to power the industry of the future, having a member of the leadership team to manage the complexities of a large business and the opportunities of advanced technology, is key for us.  On behalf of the Deluxe team, I would like to thank Neil for his contributions to our success over the past two and half years and welcome Robert to the team.”

Source: Deluxe Entertainment