CNN taps Beme to launch new media outfit

CNN is funding and launching by summer of 2017 a standalone startup and it has tapped with Beme co-founders Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett to build the new brand.

The new company will be devoted to filling the world with timely and topical video and empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice.

For the new outfit, CNN is hiring “dozens of producers, builders, developers, designers and content creators of every mold.”

The deal also means that CNN has acquired Beme, which is the digital innovation piece of a multiyear development deal that will result in the formation of a new media company “bringing together technology and storytelling.”

CNN said it was approaching this project as a startup, with Andrew Morse (GM, CNN Digital Worldwide), Chris Berend (SVP, digital video), Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett are the new brand’s founders.

“And just like Great Big Story, it will operate as a separate, stand-alone business as part of the CNN Digital portfolio,” the company said.

As for Beme, the app will cease to exist and the innovation team will focus on launching the new company and building premium and transformative technology-driven experiences for CNN’s portfolio of businesses. Users will be notified and will have ample time to download their videos.

All 11 Beme employees will join CNN as a distinct technology group, dedicated to charting the future of CNN through innovative mobile video products –- some as stand alones, others as enhancements to the vast array of existing products in the CNN portfolio.