Congrats to my old friend and colleague, Karol Martesko-Fenster, founding publisher of Filmmaker and co-founder of Indiewire on his new position at Babelgum, the ad-supported internet TV platform.

From the press release:

Babelgum, the free independent web TV platform, today announced the appointment of Karol Martesko-Fenster as General Manager & Publisher of thecompany’s Film Division. Martesko-Fenster will oversee allaspects of the film offering on Babelgum, expanding programming acquisitions and partnerships and global film industry and festival activities.

Karol will also assume the role of Managing Director of theannual Babelgum Online Film Festival working closely with creator Stefania Valenti and Jury Chairman Spike Lee. He will be based in Babelgum’s New York office headed by Ethan Podell, President of Babelgum US.

A long time veteran of independent film, publishing and theInternet, Martesko-Fenster joins Babelgum after having most recently collaborated with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, to launchthe pioneering 3-minute stories film publisher, CINELAN. “Babelgum’s film programming is mainly focused on people who are passionate about indie film”, said CEO Valerio Zingarelli, “and Karol’s passion for this material is just what we need to build a vibrant independent film community on the Babelgum platform.” The people behind Babelgum have consistently championed independent programming and have established the public beta of Babelgum as a premier alternative online destination,” commented Martesko-Fenster. “I am looking forward to working with the international team to position Babelgum as a market leader amongst the international independent filmmaking and emerging creative community.”

I look forward to following Karol’s work at Babelgum and telling you more about it here at Filmmaker.