Erika Winterholler

Business Development and Operations | Digital Media & Entertainment | Mobile & Interactive | Integrated Licensing Strategy | Consumer Products | Toys

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

About

๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ก๐—ฆ๐—™๐—ข๐—ฅ๐— ๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ง๐—”๐—œ๐—ก๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง Erika Winterholler is an accomplished Entertainment and Digital Media Executive with over 20 years of experience leading integrated business development and innovative product/brand solutions across Digital Media, Licensing, and Gaming. She flexes a sophisticated pulse on industry trends to harness the power of fan base behaviors that allows for products to outperform expectations in unsuspecting ways. She nimbly builds momentum across gaming partners, publishers, internal creative/marketing teams, and key stakeholders with a collaborative leadership approach that disrupts stagnant processes and ushers innovative digital solutions. Erika leverages her deep experience across the entertainment industry to skillfully construct business portfolios designed to scale and exceed business goals. ๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—™๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก๐—”๐—Ÿ ๐—›๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—ง๐—ฆ โ—‰ Video Games & Licensing โ—‰ Brand Integration Strategy โ—‰ Digital Media & Entertainment โ—‰ Mobile & Interactive Products โ—‰ Integrated Business Development โ—‰ NFT Engagement Platforms โ—‰ Retail / Master Deal Construction โ—‰ Consumer Products โ—‰ Multi-IP Integration Star Trek Gaming | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | SpongeBob SquarePants | SouthPark | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Beavis and Butthead | World War Z | A Quiet Place | Mission Impossible | Top Gun Game Developers: Ubisoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2K, Saber Interactive, THQ Nordic, Sega Games, Co., Activision, Scopley, Bandai Namco, Outright Games, Game Hill Entertainment โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ.โ€ -๐˜Œ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ข ๐˜ž๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ

Experience

  • Head of Business Development Digital Gaming at Mattel, Inc.
    Oct 2022 - Present ยท 3 yrs 9 mos

  • Vice President of Games and Emerging Media at Paramount
    Apr 2020 - Oct 2022 ยท 2 yrs 7 mos

    ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—š๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ง๐—˜๐—— ๐—•๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ฆ ๐——๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง | ๐— ๐—ข๐—•๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—˜ & ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜ | ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—˜๐—ก๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—ก๐—š & ๐—š๐—”๐— ๐—œ๐—ก๐—š | ๐—ก๐—™๐—ง๐˜€ Quarterbacks and oversees integrated business development for ViacomCBS Interactive Entertainment Game Division and the lines of business across the CPG category. Leads comprehensive licensed video game strategies to optimize brand sales in innovative ways with premier video game partners. โ€ข ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜€๐—ฒ on gaming to reimagine and maximize brand integration across the video game space and the user experience. โ€ข ๐——๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฟ of fan bases, leveraging sophisticated market data to keenly align brands and games. โ€ข ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜‚๐—บ with top industry publishers, game developers, internal creative/marketing teams, and key stakeholders to lead brand/game development from conception to launch. โ€ข ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ป (๐—ก๐—™๐—ง) engagement strategies and partnerships. โ€ข ๐—ข๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ $๐— ๐—  ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ and overall P&L, consecutively meeting or exceeding revenue targets. โ€ข ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ-๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ game developers: Ubisoft, 2K, Saber Interactive, THQ Nordic, Activision โ€ข ๐—”๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜๐—ต ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜† to achieve maximum ROI opportunities. Constructs business portfolio designed to scale; identifies portfolio and market gaps in anticipation of industry trends. โ€ข ๐—™๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น relationships to maximize brand value in partnership with Toys, Publishing, and CPG teams. โ€ข ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€; evaluates partner pitches to determine tailored game development path within its licensing model. ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—œ๐—ฃ: Star Trek Gaming, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Beavis and Butthead, World War Z, A Quiet Place, Mission Impossible, Top Gun

  • CBS Interactive (13 yrs 8 mos)
    • Senior Director
      Oct 2017 - Apr 2020 ยท 2 yrs 7 mos

      ๐— ๐—ข๐—•๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—˜ & ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—˜๐—ก๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—š๐—”๐— ๐—œ๐—ก๐—š | ๐——๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง ๐——๐—˜๐—”๐—Ÿ ๐—–๐—ข๐—ก๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—–๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก | ๐—™๐—”๐—ก๐—•๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐—ง๐—œ๐— ๐—œ๐—ญ๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก Oversaw the Game Division for CBS Interactive Entertainment, leading all game licensing initiatives with outstanding YoY revenue performance. โ€ข ๐——๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ licensed game business development by selecting premier games for development per show/per genre. Spearheaded market launches in collaboration with industry-leading publishers and developers. โ€ข ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด licensing business, advancing to CBS All Access and streaming opportunities. โ€ข ๐—–๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ $๐— ๐—  ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ and application licensing and development deals; managed comprehensive external licensing to soft launch to global launch. โ€ข ๐—ฆ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ segmentation to understand and optimize the audience ecosystem and user experience.

    • Director
      Jan 2008 - Oct 2017 ยท 9 yrs 10 mos

      ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ก๐—ฆ๐—™๐—ข๐—ฅ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก ๐— ๐—”๐—ก๐—”๐—š๐—˜๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง | ๐—š๐—”๐— ๐—˜ ๐—œ๐—ก๐—œ๐—ง๐—œ๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฆ | ๐—•๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ก๐—— & ๐—•๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ฆ ๐——๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐— ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง Oversaw all applications and games for CBS Interactive, transforming the CBS and CW television brands to the mobile and online space. Spearheaded concept, development, and marketing for CBS game initiatives and integrated business development for games and applications. โ€ข ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น and strategy for studio/publisher of CBS-owned IP. โ€ข ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ of top-tier brands, including Survivor, CSI, NCIS, The Amazing Race, Star Trek, 90210, Gossip Girl, and Americaโ€™s Next Top Model โ€ข ๐—›๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—ง๐—ฆ: Meffy Award Winner for Most Innovative App - CWโ€™s City Wize; Ad Age Media Vanguard Award Winner - premium Star Trek PADD application.

    • Project Manager
      Sep 2006 - Jan 2008 ยท 1 yr 5 mos

  • Project Manager at THQ Wireless Inc
    Nov 2003 - Sep 2006 ยท 2 yrs 11 mos