Shondaland Taps Alison Eakle as Chief Content Officer, Promotes Chris DiIorio to Chief Marketing Officer

Shondaland has rounded out its new executive leadership team, promoting longtime development executive Alison Eakle to chief content officer, TV & film, while Chris DiIorio has been upped to chief marketing officer. Both of these are newly created roles at the company.

“Both Alison and Chris have been integral to the growth and success of Shondaland and I am thrilled that they will be taking on new, expanded positions within the organization,” said CEO Shonda Rhimes.

The promotions come following the appointment of Megha Tolia as Shondaland’s new president. Eakle and DiIorio will report to Tolia, along with chief design and digital media officer Sandie Bailey, and chief people and culture officer Carolyn Mathis.

Eakle, who has been with Shondaland since 2013, was previously exec VP and head of creative development. As chief content officer of TV and film, Eakle will lead the development and production teams, creatively reporting to Rhimes and her longtime producing partner Betsy Beers. Eakle will be oversee all development and current programming for Shondaland’s scripted and documentary projects, and serve as a co-executive producer on select projects including the “Bridgerton” franchise and Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix limited series “Inventing Anna.”

“Betsy and I are beyond excited to create this new position that takes full advantage of Alison’s talents and allows her to expand her responsibility with the company,” Rhimes said. “Having a chief content officer allows Betsy and me to spend more time working as a focused creative team on each show.”

As for DiIorio, the exec was previously chief strategy and business development officer. The new gig will expand his responsibilities, handing him oversight of all external marketing and communications for the company as well as continuing to be handle all brand partnerships and integrations for Shondaland content. That includes broadcast and streaming, Shondaland Audio, Shondaland.com and company-wide initiatives.

“Chris and I have a longstanding relationship that has continuously expanded over the past 15 years,” Rhimes said. “He has been with me on this journey since the early days and it was a natural choice to have him in this new position to steer all marketing, communications and partnerships for Shondaland.”

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