There’s a big shock in the film comms sphere and that’s Warner Bros EVP of Communications Katie Martin Kelley, who was Motion Picture Chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy’s right hand, is heading to Netflix as VP Communications where she’ll oversee Dan Lin’s feature film portfolio.

Martin Kelley starts on Sept. 8 and will report to Dani Dudeck, Netflix Chief Communications Officer.

This is the second known high-level WBD executive to leave recently amid the uncertainty surrounding the company’s pending acquisition by Paramount. Last month, Pia Barlow, EVP Originals Marketing for HBO Max, joined Amazon MGM Studios as VP of Series Marketing. The appointment triggered a poaching lawsuit by WBD.

We understand from sources that Martin Kelley’s contract is up at WBD. This is a sudden departure at the Burbank lot, and it’s not clear yet whether or not Martin Kelley’s role will be back-filled as the Paramount-WBD merger continues to be held up by an antitrust suit with state AGs, which is scheduled for March.

“I’m excited to welcome Katie to Netflix as our VP of Communications, Film. She brings more than 20 years of experience from some of the world’s most renowned studios, where she’s worked with some of the industry’s most celebrated storytellers. I look forward to partnering with her as we support Netflix’s ambitious global film slate,” said Dudeck in statement.  

Martin Kelley will be a part of Dudeck’s global comms leadership team which includes Kelly Pakula (VP Global Corp Comms), Oliver Rawlins (VP Comms, EMEA), Flávia Vigio (VP Comms, LATAM) and Joy Albert (VP Comms, APAC).

We are told that Martin Kelley’s role isn’t considered a replacement for Emily Feingold’s previous post as VP of Communications, that long-time Netflix exec having exited in June. Feingold’s oversee previously included corp comms in addition to film, games and series. In Martin Kelley’s new role, she’ll take charge of Netflix comms across Lin’s live-action and documentaries slate, as well as kids & family animation, including Netflix Animation Studios. Martin Kelley will also oversee comms for kids & family animated series, film & TV licensing and Netflix’s international films and series portfolio.

We are told that Dudeck is also recruiting a VP of Communications, Series, who’ll lead efforts across series, podcast, games and live event and sports content.

Ahead for Martin Kelley at Netflix are such titles as Cannes sensation La Bola Negra, David Fincher’s follow-up to Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, thriller Animals, animated features Steps, Ray Gunn and In Waves, documentaries 14th, Avedon and Basquiat, dramas Gentle Monster and INK, action feature The Mosquito Bowl and more. The comms vet will be at the streamer during a time when they’re wading into longer window theatrical releases next year, i.e. Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew on Feb. 12 (Netflix date is April 2) and Charlie vs the Chocolate Factory, which will debut in theaters Nov. 5 and on Netflix Dec. 22. 

During her time at Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, Martin Kelley led media relations and corporate comms for Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, and the studio’s new genre label, Warner Bros. Clockwork. Warner Bros. saw one of their highest years at the box office in 2025, grossing north of $4B worldwide, with a rich line-up that included both Oscar winners in One Battle After Another and Sinners, and blockbusters in Weapons, Final Destination: Bloodlines and A Minecraft Movie.

Martin Kelley, is a longtime comms vet having worked for 12 years handling domestic and corp comms under the Rob Moore regime at Paramount. Prior to her recent three-year run at Warner Bros, she worked with De Luca and Abdy at MGM Studios as Chief Communications Officer before the Amazon acquisition.

Netflix has named Katie Martin Kelley, a veteran studio communications pro of over two decades, as its new Vice President of Communications, Film, the streamer announced Monday, August 17.

Martin Kelley joins Netflix from Warner Bros. Pictures, and she will now be tasked with overseeing comms for Dan Lin’s feature film portfolio, including everything from live-action, documentaries, and kids & family animation, as well as film and TV licensing and Netflix’s international films and series portfolio.

She will report to Dani Dudeck, Netflix Chief Communications Officer. Her first day is September 8. We look forward to her fielding all of our questions about Netflix’s theatrical ambitions.

“I’m excited to welcome Katie to Netflix as our VP of Communications, Film. She brings more than 20 years of experience from some of the world’s most renowned studios, where she’s worked with some of the industry’s most celebrated storytellers. I look forward to partnering with her as we support Netflix’s ambitious global film slate,” Dudeck said in a statement.

Dudeck’s communications leadership team also includes Kelly Pakula (VP Global Corp Comms), Oliver Rawlins (VP Comms, EMEA), Flávia Vigio (VP Comms, LATAM), and Joy Albert (VP Comms, APAC). Dudeck is also recruiting a series counterpart to Martin Kelley to oversee series, podcast, games, and live event and sports content.

Martin Kelley’s exit from Warner Bros. comes amid the uncertainty surrounding the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which for now won’t close until at the earliest the conclusion of a trial in March 2027 as 12 U.S. states have brought antitrust action against the merger.

Martin Kelley in her time at Warner Bros. oversaw media relations for WB Pictures, New Line Cinema, the animation team, and the new Clockwork banner. She joined WB after previously working with film heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at MGM, and she spent 12 years at Paramount before that overseeing domestic publicity and corporate communications.

Martin Kelley is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Whitney Peak, one of the stars of the recent Gossip Girl reboot, has joined the cast of Universal’s Miami Vice ’85, being directed by Joseph Kosinski.

Peak joins Michael B. Jordan, Austin Butler and Alden Ehrenreich in the feature, which is eyeing a November production start in and will shoot in New York and Miami.

The new feature will explore the glamour and corruption of mid-’80s Miami in a new version of the property, inspired by the pilot episode of the landmark television series that influenced culture and set the style of everything from fashion to filmmaking.

Miami Vice began life as the Anthony Yerkovich-created TV series starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two undercover Miami police officers known for their love of fast boats and pastel suits.

Jordan is playing Ricardo Tubbs while Butler is playing James Crockett, the two swagger-strutting detectives.

Peak is said to be playing Tubbs’ love interest.

Vice ‘85 will be filmed for IMAX and is set for release by Universal Pictures on May 19, 2028.

Producing is Dylan Clark via his Dylan Clark Productions and Kosinski, who previously helmed Top Gun: Maverick and F1.

Dan Gilroy is writing the script, based on characters created by Yerkovich. Eric Warren Singer wrote an earlier draft of the screenplay. 

Peak, who is Ugandan and Canadian, broke through with a leading role in the 2019 reboot of soapy teen drama Gossip Girl and recurred on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Apple TV’s Home Before Dark.  

The actress had a leading role in Disney+’s Hocus Pocus 2, which had set the record for biggest opening weekend for a made-for-streaming movie on the platform. And she recently appeared in the Netflix shark thriller Thrash opposite Phoebe Dynevor, which was a surprise hit on Netflix which released worldwide in April.

Peak is poised to reach a wider audience this fall as she will next be seen playing a key role in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which Lionsgate releases Nov. 20.

The actress is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen.