Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex, has joined the board of Boat Rocker Media. The Toronto-based content company says the appointment is effective today (Feb. 1).

Jacob has been president and CEO of Cineplex for nearly 20 years. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of Galaxy Entertainment, which he co-founded in 1999, and head of integration at Alliance Atlantis Communications. He’s also held various leadership positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation.

Jacob serves on a number of boards, including Cineplex, ASM Global and the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He also served on the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) board for 17 years. He left the TIFF board in December along with several others as the organization added new board members and promoted Cameron Bailey to CEO. Universal Music Canada CEO Jeffrey Remedios as also appointed chair of the board at that time.

“This is an incredibly dynamic time to be in the entertainment industry,” said Jacob, in a news release. “With so much change and so many new opportunities, Boat Rocker is uniquely positioned to capitalize on both. I look forward to supporting Boat Rocker as it charts its new path forward as a public company.”

Jacob holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business as well as the accounting designations of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant, Fellow Chartered Accountant and Fellow Certified Management Accountant.

David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, co-executive chairmen of Boat Rocker Media and co-chairmen of Boat Rocker Studios, said Jacob’s extensive expertise in the overall entertainment industry as well as public company, M&A and integration “will be invaluable” as the company executes on its growth strategy.

“Adding a new, independent board member ensures we have an increasingly diverse range of viewpoints and skill sets to draw on as we continue to build Boat Rocker for this next exciting phase in our evolution,” Fortier and Schneeberg said in a joint statement.

The Boat Rocker board also includes Fortier and Schneeberg, as well as John Young, CEO of the company; Quinn McLean, VP at Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel; Sangeeta Desai, former group COO and CEO of Emerging Markets at Fremantle who serves on a number of boards globally; and Katherine Cunningham, CFO at The Globe and Mail.

Photo credit: Cineplex