Signature Entertainment Brings West Ham United Owner David Sullivan Back Into the Fold, Expands Production Might
variety.comManori Ravindran International EditorIf Ted Lasso were a film executive, he’d probably resemble someone like Marc Goldberg, the CEO of U.K.
producer-distributor Signature Entertainment.Goldberg’s favorite football team since he was a kid has been West Ham United, and — in a cosmic alignment befitting the popular Apple TV Plus series — the club’s owner, David Sullivan, happens to be a stakeholder in Signature.In Goldberg’s early career as a DVD salesman, he managed to convince a corporate client that buying an executive box at West Ham would come in handy when entertaining customers.
In 2010, when Sullivan bought the team, the new owner asked for feedback from corporate members on ways to improve the club, which super-fan Goldberg readily provided in an off-the-cuff email.
The pair developed an unlikely friendship — “I was the envy of all my family and friends,” says Goldberg — and eventually their business paths crossed when Goldberg went to buy a movie that Sullivan, something of a cinephile himself, had invested in. “A few years later, he made me an offer to buy into [Signature],” says Goldberg. “And the rest is history.”Founded in 2011, Signature Entertainment has built up a sizeable distribution footprint in the U.K., with more than 1,000 movies now in its catalogue.
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