Jeffrey Scott Edell

Last updated
Jeffrey Scott Edell
Portrait of Jeffrey Scott Edell.png
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia
OccupationTech & Entertainment CEO
Years active1990–present
Organizations
Known for

Jeffrey Scott Edell is an American entrepreneur in the entertainment, media, and tech industries. [1] [2] He currently serves as the CEO and Chairman of MeWe, a global social media and social networking service that utilizes Web3. [3] [4]

Contents

Jeffrey Edell is best known for his role as a top executive at numerous entertainment and technology organizations such as: CEO and president of Soundelux Entertainment Group, Chairman of Intermix Media (former parent company of MySpace) [5] and eLabor.com (formerly jeTECH Data Systems [6] [7] ) CEO of Inferno Pictures, [8] CFO of Cinedigm, [9] president and COO of DIC Entertainment, as well as former president and CFO of WTG Entertainment Enterprises. [10] Edell is also co-founder and Chairman of IndieU [11] and Ohana Chem Co. LLC along with his daughter Natalie Edell. [12] In early 2021, Edell was named CEO of MeWe. [13]

Education

Edell attended Lehigh University to pursue a Pre-Medicine path and later transferred to the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce, where he graduated with a B.S. in Commerce with an emphasis in Accounting and Taxation. [14] He served as Associate Professor at Florida State University [15] and was Entrepreneur in Residence for the Motion Pictures Arts College from 2014 to 2016. [16] During his time at KPMG, [17] Edell obtained his Certified Public Accountant certification.

Career

As CEO of MeWe, Edell orchestrated a $27 million Series A round led by private company McCourt Global, which contributed $15 million. Previous investors contributed another $12 million—the round values MeWe at approximately $200 million. [3]

From 1995 to 2001, he served as a production executive for films such as Braveheart , Face/Off , The Mask of Zorro , Gladiator , Almost Famous , and Shrek . Starting in 2009, Edell's companies have produced films such as The Kids Are All Right , [18] Just Friends , Killer Elite , Hachi: A Dog's Tale , and The Grey . While Edell was the chief executive officer of Soundelux, Soundelux performed work for films such as Gladiator and Braveheart , among other films, which won multiple BAFTA and Academy Awards. [19] [20]

Edell was a producer and actor on the 2013 Lifetime movie Taken for Ransom (originally named Life Saver) with his wife Elaine Hastings Edell, [21] [2] [22] a producer for various other films, and an actor in National Lampoon's Movie Madness (formerly National Lampoon's Goes to the Movies). In 2019, Edell was a producer of the thriller film Deadly Excursion (Paradise Prey). He also serves as co-executive producer of the 2020 animated series, The Freak Brothers , [23] [24] based on the comic book series of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers . The series was renewed for Season 2 to be released in December 2022. [25] In May 2020, it was announced that the main characters in the series will be voiced by A-list celebrities including Woody Harrelson, John Goodman, Tiffany Haddish, and Pete Davidson. [12] In 2021, Tubi announced that The Freak Brothers was the most-watched program on the platform. [26]

Edell is also known for overseeing and managing the development of brands such as Inspector Gadget and Strawberry Shortcake during his tenure at DIC Entertainment, [27] [28] as well as partnering with Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment [29] on a game titled Stan Lee's Superhero Ball Wars. [30] Edell was interviewed by journalist Julia Angwin in her 2009 book Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America because of his role as Chairman of Intermix Media. [5] Edell was also interviewed in 2022 by David Ryan Polgar on the All Tech Is Human podcast, which promotes the Responsible Tech field. [31]

Edell was featured in Start It, Sell It & Make a Mint: 20 Wealth-Creating Secrets for Business Owners by Joe John Duran. He also won the Master Award in Comic Collecting from the Certified Guaranty Company's Collectors Society, [32] and served as goalie for the US Maccabi World Team at the Olympics in 2004. [14] Edell is also Advisor, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Ohana Chem Co, LLC, a hemp extraction solvent supplier specializing in ethanol, hydrocarbons, and logistics. [33]

Edell's tenure at Soundelux garnered him recognition as Nasdaq and Ernst and Young's ‘Entertainment Entrepreneur of the Year' in 2000 [28] [15] [34] and admission to both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. [35] He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Young Presidents Organization, and a contributing member of the Rolling Stones Culture Council. [36]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleRef.
1982 Movie Madness Actor [37]
1995 Braveheart Production Executive [38]
1997 Face/Off Production Executive [39]
1998 The Mask of Zorro Production Executive [40]
2000 Almost Famous Production Executive [41]
2000 Gladiator Production Executive [42]
2000 True Rights Co-Producer [43]
2001 Shrek Production Executive [44]
2009 Hachi: A Dog's Tale Production Executive [45]
2010 The Kids Are All Right Production Executive [46]
2011 Dirty Little Trick Executive Producer [47]
2011 The Grey Production Executive [48]
2011 Killer Elite Production Executive [49]
2013Final Recourse (Taken for Ransom)Producer & Actor [50]
2019Deadly Excursion (Paradise Prey)Producer [51]
2020-2021 The Freak Brothers (TV show)Co-Executive Producer [52]

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