Interpublic Relaunching Branded Entertainment Division

Interpublic Group is rehatching its branded entertainment division bringing in Scott Donaton to help run the venture. Donaton is a former publisher of both Time Inc’s Entertainment Weekly and Crain Communications’ Advertising Age.

The new venture will be titled, Ensemble, and Donaton’s title will be president and CEO.

The move is something of a turnaround for Interpublic which runs its media agencies under the umbrella of the Mediabrands corporate structure. Back in December the company dismantled Magna Entertainment saying it would devolve responsibilities to agencies Initiative and Universal McCann. The unit had been headed by former president and CEO BBC America Bill Hilary.

Donaton authored the book Madison & Vine: Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries Must Converge to Survive. Michael Kassan’s MediaLink has already signed a non-exclusive first look deal with the venture. MediaLink represents production clients including Shine Reveille and Generate.

Donaton officially joined the venture on Monday.