Blake B. Kuhre

Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships @ DramaBox

About

Creator, Audience, and Partnership growth focused with 15+ years experience beginning at Disney, where I had the privilege of waking up 22M of today’s Gen Z's and Millennials through hosting & producing a national morning show—all while incubating the biggest celebrities, music, and content of their generation.My next professional chapter spans a decade in strategic & operational leadership roles at distinctive, fast-growing startups across several verticals, including news, live streaming, SVOD/AVOD/FAST, social, dating, e-commerce, prediction markets platforms, and now: micro-drama.Philanthropy focused serving as Founder & President of Furry Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) NGO advocating the TNR/cat rescue >> foster >> adopt pipeline.

Country

United States

City

Los Angeles

Industry

Computer Software

Skill

Prediction Markets, Strategic Vision, Brand Licensing, Revenue Generation, Executive Communications Support, Internal Communications, Team Leadership, Media Relations, Corporate Communications, Agency Relations, Agency Relationship Management, Revenue & Profit Growth, Marketing Strategy, Communication, Team Management, Account Management, Branding, Event Production, Event Marketing, Creative Strategy

Experience

Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

DramaBox

2026-5 - Present · 5 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

The #1 micro-drama platform in the world, backed by Temasek and Disney Accelerator.

Visiting Lecturer

Cornell University

2025-3 - Present · 1 yr 7 mos

Co-Founder

LAPS

2024-10 - 2026-5 · 1 yr 8 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Digital doubles and virtual influencer studio leveraging GenAI

Co-Founder & COO (Acquired by LAPS)

SWIM

2021-1 - 2024-10 · 3 yrs 10 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

SVP, Corporate Development (Acquired by General Atlantic + ProSieben)

The Meet Group

2020-1 - 2020-12 · 1 yr

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

• Recruited by CEO to initially lead corporate development and strategy, quickly expanded focus to 1.) accelerating growth and operational transformation initiatives, 2.) driving operational excellence, and fostering greater cross-functional collaboration throughout the organization, 3.) ultimately leading a strategic review and sale process resulting in the acquisition of $0.5B USD, sold to ProSieben + General Atlantic within 3 months of joining Company (March 2020), forming ParshipMeet Group, one of the largest global dating app portfolios (closed September 2020) • 3-year live-streaming partnership with NASDAQ: MTCH—worked directly with CFO, CSO, and CCO setting stage for acquisition of South Korean HyperConnect live streaming platform to MTCH for $1.7B in Q121 • Developed robust livestreaming talent acquisition pipeline • Led Trust & Safety overhaul for entire app portfolio establishing Safety Advisory Panel; partnered with prestigious NGO's such as UNICEF and the WeProtect Global Alliance

Global Head of Strategic Partnerships (LiveMe)

Tencent

2018-10 - 2020-1 · 1 yr 4 mos

Los Angeles & Beijing

• Tencent, Bytedance & TPG-backed, top-grossing, live streaming app (LiveMe)—predecessor to TikTok • Partnerships: Disney, 20th Century Fox, Marvel, Samsung, Match Group, PayPal, TCLtv+ FAST AVOD, Razer, Bark, UNICEF, Tech Coalition, Internet Watch Foundation, and WeProtect Global Alliance • Led talent agency development "A-List" program signing hundreds of livestreaming talent creators across multiple agencies worldwide • Spearheaded Trust & Safety overhaul for entire portfolio including pioneering "Safety Advocate" program, raising user age limit to 18+ which led to being quietly adopted industry-wide among competitors • Awarded Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” in 2018 (Top 10)

Director, Operations & Monetization (LiveMe)

Tencent

2018-5 - 2018-10 · 6 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Senior Manager, Digital Event Operations & Monetization (LiveMe)

Tencent

2018-3 - 2018-5 · 3 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Manager, Digital Event Operations (LiveMe)

Tencent

2018-1 - 2018-3 · 3 mos

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

• Developed and planned entire calendar-year of in-app online and offline events centered around virtual gifting and e-commerce designed to increase revenue, DAU, and retention

Senior Manager, Viewer Experience

Hulu

2017 - 2018 · 1 yr

Santa Monica, CA

- Launched SVOD/AVOD “Hulu with Live TV”

Director, Live Content & Breaking News (Newzulu)

Citizen

2014 - 2017 · 3 yrs

Los Angeles, CA

• Newzulu was the predecessor to Citizen & Storyful, utilizing LiveU's groundbreaking live streaming SDK for ENG/EFP/UGC • Built-out and managed global B2B/B2C UGC news app

Founder & President

Be More Real®

2014 - 2016 · 2 yrs

Greater Los Angeles Area

Boutique tech & entertainment consulting firm producing the award-winning documentary short, “Guardians of Recoleta,” backed by Banijay Group.

Emerging Creator Markets & Synergy Partnerships

The Walt Disney Company

2010 - 2014 · 4 yrs

Burbank, California

Mentee of Chairman, Walt Disney International (reporting directly to CEO)

Executive Producer & Morning Show Host (Disney Channels Worldwide/Radio Disney)

The Walt Disney Company

2004 - 2013 · 9 yrs

Burbank, CA

Incubated & provided synergy launches for: • Wizards of Waverly Place (Selena Gomez) • Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) • High School Musical 1-3 (Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Effron) • Camp Rock 1-2 (Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato) • Shake It Up (Zendaya Coleman, Bella Thorne) • Other DIS subsidiaries including Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Walt Disney Studios, Disney Parks & Resorts, Disney Channels Worldwide, Hollywood Records, Walt Disney Records, Buena Vista Studios, ABC Family (Freeform), ABC-TV affiliated shows, movies and franchises • Non-Disney artists of significance also incubated and launched during tenure include: Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Victoria Justice, Fifth Harmony (Camila Cabello), and One Direction (Harry Styles, Zayn Malik).