IDW announces its new leadership team
After the shocking announcement of massive layoffs including management and a delisting on the stock exchange, IDW Media Holdings, Inc. and its IDW Publishing unit, have announced this week its new strategic organizational restructuring, including the appointment of Davidi Jonas as CEO and Joshua Frankel as CDO, and the promotions of Mark Doyle and Tara McCrillis to Co-Publishers, Amber Huerta as COO, and Jamie S. Rich as Editor-in-Chief.
With IDW Publishing’s recent promotions and restructuring the company hopes to maximize its revenue and brand awareness through ambitious sales, marketing, and publicity initiatives, and is focusing on growing its presence in the direct, retail, foreign, digital and e-commerce markets.
In addition, IDW announced the appointment of Jamie S. Rich as Editor-in-Chief. Jamie brings a wealth of editorial experience and will lead the unparalleled editorial team in a spirit of collaboration, timeliness, and delightfully authentic and engaging storytelling.
About the staff
Mark Doyle joined IDW in February 2021 where he developed the IDW Original line of comics including the bestselling hits DARK SPACES: WILDFIRE and EARTHDIVERS. Prior to IDW Mark worked in Editorial at DC comics for 15 years where he did everything from developing original stories for the VERTIGO imprint, oversaw the entire line of BATMAN comics and launched the successful new line of high end comics and graphic novels DC BLACK LABEL.
Tara McCrillis has been with IDW since 2019 starting as the Director of Design and Production helping fine tune workflow process between the design and editorial teams. In 2021 she was promoted to VP Publishing Operations overseeing the design team in addition to all of the operational processes required to make and sell comics and books. She was integral in helping the company transition Direct Market sales to PRH. Prior to joining IDW she worked as the Director of Publishing Operations for Fodor’s Travel assisting the newly acquired imprint in establishing workflow process and helped shepherd in a full redesign of the legacy travel guide.
Jamie S. Rich has been with IDW since May of 2022, when he took over the editorial department for licensed comics. Just prior to that, he had been editor-in-chief at Tapas Media and before that a Group Editor at DC Comics, where he covered just about every aspect of the publishing line at one time or another, from Vertigo and Gerard Way’s Young Animal imprint to running first the Batman office and then Justice League, where he oversaw the creation of the Yara Flor version of Wonder Girl and a new direction for Jonathan Kent as Superman. He began his comic career in 1994 as an editor at Dark Horse Comics and was also editor-in-chief of Oni Press in its first six years of publishing. Also an accomplished writer, he is known for the graphic novels 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, A Boy & a Girl, and You Have Killed Me.
Josh Frankel is the founder of Z2 Comics, a company specializing in comic books and graphic novels. With a focus on creating comprehensive digital marketing strategies for the comic and geek culture industries, Josh has dedicated himself to helping creators and publishers reach wider audiences and capitalize on their potential. Having worked in the comic space since the age of 19, Josh brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for the intersection of marketing, creativity, and new media.
Amber Huerta has been our Chief Operating Officer since April 2023. From July 2021 to April 2023, Ms. Huerta served as Senior Vice President, People and Organizational Development of the Company, during which time she was responsible for IDW’s overall human resources strategy, talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational design, employee relations, compensation and benefits, and organizational design. Ms. Huerta has over 20 years of human resource experience, achieving employment law and SHRM-SCP designations. Prior to IDW, from July 2019 to July 2021, Ms. Huerta served as the Head of HR at Rapid Logistics, where she was responsible for strategizing, developing, and implementing all culture, employee engagement, and organizational development initiatives, servicing over 500 employees. Ms. Huerta is an active member of the national and local chapters of the Society of Human Resource Management and currently serves on several senior HR roundtables in Los Angeles, CA.
Davidi Jonas was CEO of Straight Path Communications. He led the company from (independently) going public with a ~$25M equity value to a sale ~4 years later to Verizon for equity value of ~$2.5Bn. Davidi is a value and values-oriented leader. Just yesterday Davidi answered a ringing phone in the LA office saying, “Hello, thank you for calling IDW. How may I direct your call?” He couldn’t figure out how to transfer the call. Davidi plans to learn the desktop phones while helping to lead IDW.
The publisher of Z2 Comics, Josh Frankel, and independent filmmaker Sridhar Reddy have announced the formation of a new production company, Modern Prometheus. Frankel and Reddy will both serve as Co-Chairman and will be responsible for sourcing and developing comic book intellectual property and overseeing media finance, operations and production. Modern Prometheus will have a first look option for all Z2 Comics publications, including their recently announced line of creator owned comic books and their expanded graphic novel slate.