Ankler Media, the most incisive and trusted voice covering the entertainment industry, has announced two key hires — Hanna Hensler and Abigail Barr — as the brand continues to experience explosive growth and further expands into live events as it convenes the industry at every level.
Hensler joins Ankler Media as director of marketing and events following four years at Variety, where she was promoted four times within four years, climbing the ranks from marketing coordinator to event and features marketing manager. In her new role, Hensler will lead all marketing and events initiatives including FYC and Festival partnerships. She will report to Head of Sales London Sanders.
Barr has been appointed to lead audience development and social media strategy across the Ankler Media portfolio. Prior to joining Ankler Media, she was a freelance writer for outlets including Mashable, Business Insider and InStyle. Previously, she managed social media for streaming services, live events venues and podcasts. She was featured as a “best up-and-coming comedian” in Vulture’s Follow Friday column. Her viral social media posts have been covered by outlets, including The Cut, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Insider, HuffPost, and E! Online. In this new role, Barr will be responsible for seeking new audiences across platforms to grow The Ankler community as well as creating and executing all social media for the digital media startup. She will report to Editor-in-Chief Janice Min and Executive Editor David Lidsky.
“We are thrilled to add Hanna and Abigail to the Ankler Media team as we accelerate our plans to produce and deliver more high-profile events that inform and connect the entertainment and media community,” said Min. “We’ve experienced rapid growth this year, with our events fulfilling a deep hunger for connection in the entertainment community. These new additions to the team will only make us stronger.”
The news comes as Ankler Media expands its live events offerings to include the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where Awards Editor Katey Rich will interview actor Hugh Grant for a live edition of the Prestige Junkie podcast. The Ankler x Pure Nonfiction’s Documentary Spotlight series will also host a pop-up event with Thom Powers in conversation with Raoul Peck. Later this fall, the Documentary Spotlight series will host events in Los Angeles and London.
The Ankler has experienced a meteoric rise, up 400 percent year-over-year in ad revenue in 2024, and up more than 500 percent in subscription revenue since launching as a Y Combinator company in January 2022. With 82,000 subscribers across its titles and more than 1.3 million podcast downloads, The Ankler has expanded into live events and is now the third largest business publication on Substack, having both predicted and ridden the wave of change in the entertainment industry. While much of the media industry continues to contract, Ankler Media is steadily growing with its masthead now including contributors Claire Atkinson, Gregg Kilday, Manori Ravindran, Peter Keifer, Erik Barmack, Ashley Cullins, Sean McNulty and The Optionist’s Andy Lewis as well as staffers Elaine Low, Katey Rich and executive editor David Lidsky.
About Ankler Media:
The Ankler newsletter originally launched in 2017 and quickly became a trusted voice in coverage of the entertainment business, widely circulated among the most influential leaders in the industry. Called a “hit Hollywood newsletter” by the New York Times, The Ankler is an uncompromising alternative to traditional trade reporting and aims to shed light on the often underreported and untold aspects of the industry. The Ankler is the flagship brand within Ankler Media, which was formed in January 2022 and is helmed by Janice Min, CEO and editor in chief, and Richard Rushfield, editorial director and chief columnist. With numerous newsletters and podcasts, Ankler Media provides daily insights, analysis and news about the ever-evolving world of entertainment. You can read more from The Ankler here: https://theankler.com
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