Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, embargoed, entertainement, HRL, hunter, valiant

Valiant Vice-President Hunter Gorinson Exits Publisher

Published Tue, 06 Mar 2018 11:00:59 -0600

In the fourth major departure since Chinese investor DMG's acquisition of the publisher last month, Bleeding Cool has learned that Valiant Entertainment's longtime VP of Marketing & Communications, Hunter Gorinson, has elected to leave the company effective at the end of this week.

This follows CEO Dinesh Shamdasani being forced out, alongside Chairman Peter Cuneo and CCO Gavin Cuneo.

One of Valiant's earliest hires and a veteran of the publisher since before the company's 2012 relaunch, Gorinson's tenure at Valiant has made him a major presence to many in comics and entertainment and earned him a reputation as one of the industry's smartest and most highly valued PR and marketing pros.

As one of the five principal architects of Valiant's re-emergence, alongside Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons, Publisher Fred Pierce, Director of Sales Atom! Freeman and former CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani, Gorinson has often been boasted about by Valiant executives as the company's "secret weapon" — always eschewing the spotlight to let creators shine… and in exchange for an outsized and influential role in shaping Valiant from within.

From Valiant's initial slate of relaunched titles, including Robert Venditti's X-O Manowar and Fred Van Lente's Archer & Armstrong, onward, Gorinson played a central role in retooling Valiant's '90s-era concepts for modern comics readership before helping to expand the company's purview to encompass entirely new creations, like Matt Kindt's Divinity and Peter Milligan's Britannia, to much commercial and critical success.

Notably, Gorinson also spearheaded the rollout behind Jody Houser's Faith series — inspiring worldwide, viral media coverage and Valiant's most high-profile Eisner Award nomination to date — as well the campaigns behind two of 2017's highest-selling independent comics debuts with X-O Manowar by New York Times best-selling author Matt Kindt and Secret Weapons by Academy Award nominee Eric Heisserer, among others.

Most recently, Gorinson had also been devoting an increasing share of his time to Valiant's movie and television division and the company's internal strategizing for upcoming projects including Sony's Bloodshot and Harbinger feature films, the Russo Brothers' Quantum and Woody television show, and more behind the scenes.

In the weeks to come, Gorinson will be transitioning to a consultancy role for the company, where he will reportedly help the publisher source his replacement.

Still, there is no word on just where Gorinson might be headed next, and it seems unlikely that someone with his unique set of skills and experience will stay off the market for too long.

Marvel, DC, Millarworld… you may want to reach out now — if you haven't already.