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“Harry Potter” agent The Blair Partnership has appointed Will Obbard and Alex Flanagan to senior roles as the company eyes a new phase of growth.
“I’m delighted to welcome Alex and Will to The Blair Partnership,” said
Neil Blair, founding partner of The Blair Partnership. “Both bring exceptional experience in their respective fields and their appointments significantly strengthen our talented leadership team as we look to the next phase of the business and growth. Together, they bring complementary expertise that will help us delight our clients, turbo charge our intellectual property and harness new opportunities for growth and innovation.”
Obbard joins from theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, where he was VP of partnerships. He will lead TBP’s five-year growth strategy focusing on new revenue streams via partnerships, new franchises, mergers and acquisitions. He will also seek out new revenue opportunities for existing clients and IP.
Obbard spent over 12 years at Merlin and before that worked in strategy and M&A at KPMG.
“I’m thrilled to be joining The Blair Partnership at such an exciting point in its development,” said Obbard, who is an official World Book Day trustee. “The group has an exceptional portfolio of clients and intellectual property, alongside significant opportunities to build new partnerships and revenue streams. I’m looking forward to working with the team to deliver on its ambitious growth strategy.”
Flanagan, who has extensive entertainment, music, digital media and licensing experience, was appointed group general counsel earlier this year. She joins after three and a half years in Amazon’s global media and entertainment division where she represented Amazon Music and Prime Video in complex licensing agreements with music rights holders and public policy and regulatory matters.
Prior to Amazon, Flanagan was VP for global digital legal and business affairs at Universal Music Group and head of legal for UMG’s independent artist distribution platform Spinnup.
She said: “I’m thrilled to be joining The Blair Partnership at such an exciting time for the business. The combination of world-class literary talent, distinctive intellectual property and growing entertainment opportunities creates huge potential to build on its success and unlock new avenues for growth. I’m looking forward to being part of that journey.”
As well as “Harry Potter,” which is set to debut a highly-anticipated new screen version on HBO and HBO Max this Christmas, The Blair Partnership represents British family classic brands including The Wombles and the world of Neverland from “Peter Pan.” The company offers full-service entertainment representation for authors, creators and IP.
