Kamala Avila-Salmon has joined Lionsgate Motion Picture Group as its first head of inclusive content, the company said Friday. The new position is intended to develop and implement more diversity and equity at the company, as well as inclusion programs and strategies that will be reflected in Lionsgate’s content slate. She reports to Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chief Operating Officer Jen Hollingsworth.

“Lionsgate is committed to making films and telling stories that reflect the broader world around us. As a senior leader in the Motion Picture Group, Kamala will have the authority and support to help us better serve our audiences. Her expertise and leadership will be vital, but the work toward progress does not rest on her shoulders alone – it will require everyone at this studio to be dedicated in joining in her mandate, and we renew that dedication today,” said Hollingsworth in a statement.

Avila-Salmon will have a role to play in all of the motion picture group creative processes, including greenlighting projects, developing content, production, casting, marketing and international sales. She also will work in tandem with the studio’s chief diversity officer, Jamila Daniel.

“Storytelling is the lifeblood of our society and the stories we see on the big screen shape how we see ourselves and others. Inclusive stories have the power to change our world and I am honored and humbled to partner with the amazing team at Lionsgate in the mission to get more of these stories into the world,” said Avila-Salmon, also in a statement.

Avila-Salmon comes to Lionsgate from Facebook, where she launched a marketing inclusion team within the consumer marketing division. There, she and her team worked with marketers across Facebook to elevate campaigns so that they were more diverse and inclusive.

Prior to that, she was senior content marketer at Facebook Watch, focusing on such original series as Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk and Stephen Curry’s Stephen vs. The Game. In 2019, she was named one of Adweek’s “Young Influentials.”

Avila-Salmon began her career at RCA Records in marketing. She then joined Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records as a marketing executive, where she executed multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns for artists such as Janelle Monáe.

She continued on to the selective leadership program at Universal Pictures before transitioning to the TV side with NBC Entertainment as a marketing strategy executive overseeing the market positioning and key promotional messages for such series as The Voice and Law & Order: SVU.

In 2015, Avila-Salmon joined Google Play as an executive responsible for consumer-facing marketing campaigns promoting Google Play Music and Google Play Movies, then segued to the launch team for YouTube TV, Google’s entry into live TV streaming.

Tags: career moves diversity facebook inclusion kamala akila-salmon lionsgate


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