MARVISTA entertainment

BIOS

Joseph Szew | Partner
jszew@marvista.net

Joseph Szew is a founding member of MarVista Entertainment.  Prior to founding MarVista Entertainment, Szew started Whamo Entertainment in 1993 where he served as CFO until 1999 and then as CEO and CFO.  Szew built Whamo Entertainment into a leading licensing company of direct-to-video animated specials.  Szew is today one of the most recognizable figures in licensing of Home Entertainment rights to independent foreign video companies.  Szew envisioned that Whamo’s niche place in the market was a solid foundation for expansion into new areas of the production and distribution business.  With that vision, Szew brought on board like-minded industry veterans to launch MarVista Entertainment. 

Prior to founding Whamo, Szew served as General Manager of Broadcast Standards Inc. (BSI) overseeing sales and operations.  Before BSI, Szew was Head of International Sales at Argentina’s first private Television Network, Channel Nine, where he was directly responsible for sales of over 5000 hours of programming and established the Channel’s US-based offices under the banner of Spanish Television Services (STS) in 1986.  Szew was a pioneer in the import of Spanish language programming for the U.S. Hispanic market. 

Prior to Channel Nine, Szew was a minority shareholder and CFO/General Manager at J.M. Sztul S.A., one of the largest toy manufacturing companies of South America with over 70 employees.  Szew started his professional career at Gillette’s Braun Division in Buenos Aires, Argentina as Treasurer and Financial Office with direct responsibility over the budgeting and management of over U.S.$ 50 million.

Szew served as a consultant for Independent International Television, one of LedaFilm’s companies, and was an advisor to TopWord Inc., a subtitling and translation Company with a client roster that included 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Disney, Columbia/Sony and Universal.  Szew served as Treasurer and Vice President for Argentina’s largest Jewish private day school for over 10 years and is currently an active member of the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Szew holds a Master in Accounting and Business Administration at the University of Buenos Aires and has a minor in Medicine.