Expansion of Closer Media’s Leadership Team
Closer Media, a New York-based production and finance company, has expanded its leadership team to increase production of scripted features. The company has named Joanna Korshak and Whitney Dibo as senior vice presidents of production, and promoted John Lin to director of development.
New Appointments
Dibo will be based in New York and will work closely with company founder Zhang Xin and creative managers Sean Pan and Sophie Levy. Korshak and Lin will be based in Closer’s Los Angeles offices alongside company president Jonathan King.
Background of New Appointees
Korshak has held executive production positions on Sister and Fifth Season. She spent much of her early career at Endeavor Content and WME, where she rose through the independent film group, specializing in financing, advisory services, and distribution rights sales for notable films such as "The Rider" directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, and "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?" the Mr. Rogers documentary by Oscar winner Morgan Neville.
Dibo comes from Anonymous Content, where she served as Vice President of Film and Television, overseeing an ambitious TV/Film slate with a particular focus on projects that come from outside the traditional industry pipeline. She began her career at Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago and earned an MFA in playwriting and theater criticism from Yale before taking leadership roles at Scott Rudin Productions and The Weinstein Company.
Lin previously worked at Participant and Concordia Studio, where he worked on narrative films such as Ben Cleary’s "Swan Song" and Jayro Bustamante’s "La Llorona", as well as documentaries like "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie" and "Deaf President Now!".
Statement from Closer Media
In a joint statement, Closer Media’s Zhang and King said: "Joanna, Whitney, and John bring different experiences and talents to Closer, but all share the exceptional drive, taste, and professional reputation we need to help our company grow. As we rebuild our development pipeline and seek funding opportunities and creative partnerships both in the U.S. and internationally, we look forward to them being at the forefront of shaping our slate."
About Closer Media
Closer Media was founded in 2022 and is known for its work on films like Tony Goldwyn’s "Ezra", Alex Gibney’s Paul Simon documentary "In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon", and Pawo Choyning Dorji’s Bhutanese Oscar entry "The Monk and the Weapon". The company has also published Oliver Hermanus’ "The History of Sound" with Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, and Raoul Peck’s documentary "Orwell: 2+2=5" about neon. Upcoming projects include Alice Winocour’s "Couture" with Angelina Jolie, premiering at TIFF, and Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk documentary "Musk" for HBO Documentary Films and Universal Pictures Content Group.
