Industry veteran David Burke has been named chief marketing officer at Laika, the animation studio behind movies such as Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. Burke earlier worked with Universal Pictures, where he was the general manager for Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Dave Burke is an extraordinarily talented marketing professional with over two decades of global movie business experience. As we continue to build our studio and the Laika brand, Dave’s counsel and leadership will be of immeasurable value,” Laika president and CEO Travis Knight said in a statement.
Throughout his career, Burke has planned releases on more than 380 titles, including 60 that debuted to No. 1 in the Ireland and Northern Ireland markets, as well as all four Oscar-nominated Laika films. He delivered €40 million for Illumination and Universal at the Irish box office, planning the releases of each of the Despicable Me franchise titles through to The Secret Life of Pets 2. During his time at Universal, Sing debuted to the biggest opening of all-time for an original IP animation at the local box office.
Prior to Universal Pictures, Burke worked with Irish independent film distributor Clarence Pictures, the distribution arm of Little Bird and Eclipse Pictures. He also has extensive experience in film specific third-party promotions during his time with Halo, where he worked with Twentieth Century Fox and United International Pictures.
Burke is a former chairman of The Industry Trust, an entity that promotes the value of copyright and creativity in Ireland’s film, television and video industry.