Christopher Gastelum-Smith

About Christopher Gastelum-Smith

I have years of successful experience monetizing content in the media & entertainment industry. Whether content lives on one or multiple media platforms, recognizing, crafting, and executing deals that maximize revenues and profitability is something that requires experience, instinct, and creative vision. As a kid, I once wrote a letter to the Program Director at a local television station asking why The Thunderbirds (my favorite show) was no longer airing at 6:30 AM. He wrote back, saying that the main sponsor had dropped out. This became my first practical lesson in advertising and sparked my life-long curiosity & interest in the media business. So, as a UCLA undergrad, I jumped at the chance to intern at Lorimar-Telepictures. After graduation, they hired me, and I lived on planes, selling shows (Friends to The Office), and learned from a true master of the trade, Dick Robertson. What I loved most about my job (and still do) was recognizing the value of a property or an idea, identifying its highest and greatest impact, and crafting the deal that unlocks and monetizes that value. For me, it’s always the synergy that makes it exciting. Putting the right people together for the right reasons - and understanding the stakeholders’ goals - always yields more than the sum of the parts. I get the most satisfaction from thinking of creative ways (others may miss) to capitalize on seemingly unremarkable opportunities. When a media platform wanted to drop a program over content issues, I connected them to a high-quality advertiser who recognized the show’s value for their audience. I then attached them to a non-profit and created a Live, MFTV, Event promotion that yielded a 7-figure revenue bump. When an investment banking firm recently needed to price a content library for an M&A deal, they engaged me to evaluate the asset because they knew I would add context to the IP book value. I identified how the library could grow across multiple distribution platforms, and my proforma resulted in an unprecedented $150M sale to the original rights holder.

Experience

1. Advertising Specialist, Demand Side, Agency Solutions

   Nielsen

   Apr 2022 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

Education

• University of California, Los Angeles

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)