EXCLUSIVE: MoviePass, the monthly movie ticket subscription service, has tapped tech entrepreneur Khalid Itum as VP of Business Development and former Preferred Content VP Zac Bright as Director of Business Development.

Both will be based in Los Angeles as MoviePass increases its presence in the entertainment industry and the independent film community.

.Khalid Itum MoviePass

Itum joins MoviePass in a full-time capacity after three years of advising the company on business strategy and capital formation. In his current role, Itum is responsible for driving revenue through studio and independent distributor partnerships, brand partnerships, and will continue to support the company’s efforts across the investor community.

Bright will oversee cross-functional partnerships for MoviePass across the industry with filmmakers, content owners, distributors and film festivals.

.Zac Bright MoviePass

“Both Itum and Bright bring years of experience and vast knowledge spanning the media, film and technology sectors,” said MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe. “They both possess a proven track record putting deals together that will not only help MoviePass accelerate its industry footprint, but will also benefit the overall entertainment ecosystem. As we continue to build out our company leadership, we are demonstrating our commitment to strengthening our relationships with the major studios, Hollywood’s independent distributors and the filmmaker community at large.”

Prior to joining MoviePass full-time, Itum actively advised and/or invested in a number of technology start-ups including TopFan, Quietly, Divy, DeepGreen Resources, and KANNUU, and served as a Venture Partner for NextGen Venture Partners. He also founded KALEIDOSCOPE, an experiential content marketing firm. Previously, he was the lead strategist at Slate Studio, a boutique multi-platform design & development agency based in Venice, CA, where he led strategy on the development of Lionsgate and Tribeca Enterprises’ OTT platform, Tribeca Shortlist.

At Preferred Content, Bright oversaw the agency’s complete slate of narrative and documentary projects seeking distribution and delivered over $15M of revenue to independent creators during his 5-year tenure. Prior to joining Preferred Content, Bright worked in CAA’s Brand Coverage and Digital Content departments.

Lowe tells Deadline that MoviePass has been surging “at a higher rate than normal” among those moviegoers who take in arthouse titles. Essentially, what studios and distributors have to gain by partnering with MoviePass is raising the profile of their titles on its mobile app. While MoviePass roughly accounts for 2% of all movie tickets purchased daily, when it comes to the films that they promote, particularly a low-to-mid-budget size film, their daily share of the national box office surges to low double digits. As MoviePass clicks past 600K subscribers, the movie ticket provider wants exhibition to know that they can increase attendance at theaters, while shifting moviegoers’ dollars over to concessions. “What we want to show exhibitors is that by giving a discount on tickets, they will end up way ahead. On a 25% discount, they’d make 170% more margin dollars than they do today,” explains Lowe.