Russell Binder

Russell Binder is the Founder and CEO of Striker Entertainment, a leading independent entertainment licensing agency, IP accelerator, and media production company.  Russell is also a partner in the newly formed marketing consultancy called The IN BTWN Agency. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara (Class of 1990), Binder has more than 30 years of experience in entertainment licensing, consumer products, and media development.

Since founding Striker Entertainment in 2007, Binder has built the company into a full-service franchise management firm dedicated to expanding pop culture brands through consumer products, licensing, publishing, gaming, location-based entertainment, and film and television production.

Throughout his career, Binder has overseen licensing and consumer products programs for several billion-dollar franchises, including The Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, Angry Birds, The Walking Dead, and Five Nights at Freddy’s.  Clients past and present include Amblin, Alcon Entertainment, AMC Global, Lionsgate, MRC, Blumhouse, Legendary, Scottgames, Laika, Horror Inc, and many more.  He is recognized for guiding rights holders in executing a “double bottom line” strategy: Generating licensing revenue and leveraging consumer products and media as strategic tools to grow brand awareness and maintain long term audience engagement while nourishing fandom.

On the production side, Binder served as Executive Producer of the CBS game show Candy Crush and was instrumental in setting up the record-breaking Five Nights at Freddy’s feature films for Blumhouse and Universal, where he also served as Executive Producer. Russell also served as Executive Producer on Creepshow and has numerous film, television, publishing, and gaming projects currently in development including Dead by Daylight.

Binder serves on the advisory boards of several entertainment, gaming, and media companies, including podcast network and producer Realm, To The Stars, Acclaim, Orange Comet, Fanbrix, and MBC Game Studios. Russell is also an IP Advisor and Venture Partner at Griffin Gaming Partners as well as an advisor to Griffin’s Special Projects Fund. A longtime member of Licensing International, he has received eight industry excellence awards and has been recognized by leading trade publications as one of licensing’s top executives and innovators. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and academic programs, including UCLA Extension, the Game Developers Conference, and Digital Entertainment World.