Steven Polster has been named CEO of RightsTrade, the online marketplace for film, television and digital rights licensing.

Polster will be responsible for overseeing and rolling out RightsTrade’s suite of services and will focus on growing the roster of content owners, sales agents, and distributors using the platform to streamline their sales and acquisitions activity.
 
RightsTrade, powered by FilmTrack’s content and rights management platform, will serve as a turn-key ‘market on demand’ with an online platform where film, television, home entertainment and digital buyers can search for available rights and screen content and negotiate and complete licensing agreements.

The firm recently launched a beta version of the RightsTrade Screening Room, a secure online screening platform with advanced analytics and claims the screening room has attracted more than 1,200 buyers and a growing list of sales companies including Voltage Pictures, Svensk Filmindustri and Arclight Films.

Polster, a senior distribution, sales and marketing executive who most recently oversaw international licensing and distribution activities at Miramax, will lead the RightsTrade executive team at MIPCOM in Cannes next month.
 
“RightsTrade is poised to become the leading online marketplace for film and TV rights,” said RightsTrade co-founder and board member Jason Kassin, who is also CEO of FilmTrack.

“It provides content owners with a highly efficient way to reach thousands of buyers, and it provides buyers with a way to search for available rights for thousands of titles, screen content of interest, and eventually execute licensing contracts in real time. Steven’s deep international sales, marketing and leadership experience makes him a perfect fit for RightsTrade as we position the company for its next stage of growth.”   
 
“I’m thrilled to join RightsTrade at a time when the global distribution business is so dynamic and companies are harnessing new technologies to realise revenue faster and more efficiently,” said Polster.

“FilmTrack has an exceptional reputation as the entertainment industry’s leading rights and content management platform, and clients who manage their rights with FilmTrack will find that RightsTrade offers an innovative, nearly effortless solution to monetise those rights.”