Newell is one of the few entertainment executives with the skill sets that allow him to exhibit a powerful mix of core business acumen
and creative aptitude. Having held a range of senior management positions in sales & marketing, project management, acquisitions, operations,
production and business development, Newell's vision, discipline and ambition combined with good old fashioned hard work, have established him
as a rare commodity in this business.
Among other accomplishments in his still growing career, Newell also holds the prestigious label as a Sundance Film Festival film maker.
Newell's film which he served as producer, co-writer and supervising director was an Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in
Park City. Utah. The film was also awarded “Best International Documentary” at the 2010 Reel World Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. Why We
Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy premiered on the Showtime Network on February 4th 2010.
Born into a family of entertainers, Newell grew up listening to songs written and produced by his grandfather Joe Jones, who recorded
and wrote the New Orleans classic hit "You Talk Too Much," and launched the careers of The Dixie Cups, Alvin "Shine" Robinson, and Aaron Neville.
The Jones household was a musical sanctuary, the site of frequent jam sessions with legendary New Orleans artists Professor Longhair,
James Booker "The Piano Prince of New Orleans," Jessie Hill, and many others. This early exposure to the arts inspired Newell to pursue
a career in entertainment.
After initially cutting his teeth working with his family's publishing company, Newell then launched an independent marketing
consulting firm, executing regional campaigns for such clients as Nike, Def Jam Records, Island Records, A&M Records, Arista Records, Interscope
Records and Adidas. His firm also ventured into club and concert promotions in and around the Los Angeles area promoting successful live events
featuring live performances by RUN DMC, WILL-I-AM, BLACK EYED PEAS, WU TANG CLAN, OUTKAST and COOLIO, among others.
After spending 5 years as Associate Editor of music industry trade publication HITS Magazine, Newell spent the next 6 years as Director
of Product Management and Urban Catalog Development at Rhino Entertainment, a division of AOL/Time Warner, managing the growth and development of
their vast catalog of music. During his tenure at Rhino, Newell was responsible for the sales, production, marketing, product development and
brand management of the music catalogs of the industry’s most prestigious artists, including Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Aretha
Franklin, Sammy Davis Jr., John Coltrane, the Atlantic Jazz catalog, Richard Pryor, Quincy Jones, Soul Train and Sugarhill Records. Under Mr.
Newell’s leadership, the division enjoyed continued double digit growth each year from 1996 to 2000.
After a short stint as the Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for Blackground Records, a recorded music label
distributed by Virgin Records North America, Newell went on to lend his expertise to Paramount Home Entertainment, consulting the media giant
as a VMI Specialist, and playing a pivotal role in the launch of the Vendor Managed Inventory partnership for the studio division’s Best Buy
and Target accounts.
In 2002 Newell took his career to yet another level, joining forces with entertainment industry veteran Jeff Clanagan to launch
UrbanWorks Entertainment.
During his tenure at UrbanWorks, Newell served as Vice President and Sr. Vice President/General Manager. In these roles Newell led
UrbanWorks’ strategic entry into the urban market and held operating responsibility for the company, catapulting it almost overnight into a
recognizable force in the marketplace and the leading distributor of urban home entertainment. Mr. Newell’s responsibilities included, but
were not limited to, managing day-to-day studio operations including financial management, sales, acquisitions, product development,
production, and marketing and branding initiatives.
While at UrbanWorks, Newell was responsible for the acquisition and management of three of the group’s anchor label relationships
(Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids, The Cosby Show, Nike), and also spearheaded the creation of the group’s strategic retail marketing alliances
with Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Target. Mr. Newell’s direction and influence at UrbanWorks was crucial in the company’s evolution
to being the #1 independent producer and distributor of urban home entertainment, generating more than $150 million in revenues under his
leadership.
In 2006 Newell was recruited to join in another invaluable business, becoming an equity partner in Codeblack Enterprises LLC.
In this new venture, Newell serves as Executive Vice President/General Manager Codeblack Enterprises LLC
(http://www.codeblackentertainment.com).
Newell is behind the creation and launch of the Codeblack Enterprises LLC subsidiary Codeblack Interactive. A business unit that is focused
on aggressively pursuing and acquiring digital rights to third party content and aggregating content rights for its sister company,
Codeblack Entertainment, and exploiting its robust library of digital video programming across all available digital platforms.
CBI’s content distribution outlets include pure play digital retailers, DVD retailers who have added a digital component, mobile
companies and retailers with emerging business models that take advantage of the increasing acceptance of digital formats. Codeblack
Interactive can be found on the web at (http://www.Codeblackinteractive.com).
Newell is also the creator and developer of Codeblack Interactive's new e-commerce destination Codeblack.com. Codeblack.com is the home of
CodeblackTV, the first on-demand network dedicated to serving fans of black film and the home of the CodeblackStore the #1 on-line retail
destination that houses the largest catalog of books and DVDs that cater specifically to fans of African-American and urban themed content
and entertainment. Visit (http://www.Codeblack.com) to experience.
Mr. Newell holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration is a Masters student of Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business &
Management in Malibu, CA and is currently in pursuit of a Juris Doctorate Degree.
Back to top
|