Fathom Entertainment announced the replacement for its long-serving CEO Ray Nutt, who is scheduled to retire at the end of the year. Former IMAX and Disney exec Jason Brenek will come on as the company’s new CEO, having most recently served as Disney’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Digital Cinema and Programming, overseeing the theatrical releases of specialty concert films and sports games.
Nutt has been Fathom’s leader since 2017, navigating the specialty distributor through the turbulent times of the pandemic to emerge stronger than ever, producing its highest-grossing year ever in 2024 when its releases grossed $145 million at the domestic box office.
Bernek is well-positioned to manage Fathom’s varied release slate. In an interview after the announcement, Brenek said that under his leadership Fathom will continue to provide high quality event titles like THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS and the STUDIO GHIBLI animated series and increase the number of films they offer for wide theatrical release.
Fathom had success in 2024 with the faith-based titles THE CHOSEN and THE BLIND, and later this year will come out with a much-anticipated biopic about Jimmy Stewart and an animated stop-motion feature called WILDWOOD from the studio Laika. Brenek said, “I think there’s a huge opportunity for bringing films that have been made by traditional filmmakers that want to see their product on the big screen, but for some reason, in the marketplace that we’re operating in, are not actually making it through the major studios.”
