Electrify Hires Former Executive Editor Al Brown and Ex-YouTube EMEA Head Patrick Walker for Creator Push

Exclusive: Al Brown and Patrick Walker, two of the most recognized digital executives working in Europe, have joined Electrify's creator house. Brown, former head of programming at Vice, has been appointed Creative and Editorial EVP, while Walker, former YouTube EMEA head, will serve as Senior Strategy Director at Electrify's London office, which invests in digital creators and […]

Exclusive: Al Brown and Patrick Walker, two of the most recognized digital executives working in Europe, have joined the Electrify developer house.

Former VP of programming Brown has been tapped as EVP Creative and Editorial, while former YouTube EMEA president Walker becomes chief strategy officer at London-based Electify, known for investing in digital creators and building their online brands.

The hiring of Brown and Walker comes as YouTube's audience increasingly turns to TVs to consume the Google-owned video service. Electrify cited recent data showing that of the roughly 2.6 billion views and 371 million hours watched, more than 130 million hours — about 36 percent of total viewing time — were via television screens. Watch on Deadline

Walker is known for his presence in the worlds of entertainment and technology, and was previously managing director EMEA at YouTube and director of media partnerships EMEA at Facebook, putting him at the center of online video and creator-led media. He also ran the multi-channel network Rightester (later known as Brave Bison) and was an investor and chief content officer at the YouTube network Base79.

Brown spent more than a decade at Vice, where he became vice president of programming at Vice Studios UK and produced series including State of Undress and Gaycation, before moving on to senior roles at Future Studios and Independent Studios.

At Electrify, he works closely with creators and teams across their media brands across existing channels and formats, as they develop core formats and explore where established audience relationships can unlock new entertainment and original IP.

"Big audiences aren't short for making similar stuff. It allows you to take creative risks, find new talent and create formats that can take these ideas where audiences haven't seen them before," Brown said.

Walker will focus on finding and bringing in new creator-driven media brands, new platform development, distribution and licensing opportunities beyond YouTube. and working directly with creators to build sustainable businesses around their audiences and IP. He will also lead Electrify's relationships with platforms and distribution partners as the company looks at opportunities across streaming, connected TV and other forms of distribution.

"YouTube is now a living room medium for hundreds of millions of people," Walker said. "Now is the opportunity to build creator-driven brands that can travel across all screens without losing what made audiences choose them in the first place."

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