Liesl Copland
Board Secretary
A 30-year entertainment industry veteran, Copland has worked in the specialty film sector for most of her career, with the goal of democratizing distribution for unique, independently produced projects. As Co-founder of MATR Labs, Liesl brings her extensive marketplace experience, her digital media experience and credibility, talent relationships and deep strategic advisory expertise to bear on projects from development to release with a specialty in sales, distribution and audience amplification strategies for content in all formats. As Executive Vice President of Content Strategy at Participant, Liesl oversaw Participant’s global sales efforts and worked in tandem with the company’s content teams throughout development and production, advising on optimal strategic options and partner strategy for all of Participant’s projects. She also worked within the C-suite on M&A and the company's larger strategic objectives ensuring that the company’s impact-focused slate met the demands of the marketplace and found the widest possible audience.
Prior to Participant, Liesl worked at powerhouses including WME, Netflix and Endeavor Content, and is known for advising companies and A-list creatives on the always evolving media landscape. Her deep and varied experience allows her to bring her market focus to high-quality, talent led, vision based film and television projects.
Before joining Participant, Copland was a Partner and EVP at Endeavor Content where she ran their Documentary practice after years of being at WME focused on film advisory, sales and financing. She oversaw feature documentaries and premium nonfiction series and provided strategic advice to the studio’s growing production partners. During her twelve years with the Endeavor suite of companies, Copland focused on the emerging digital distribution space as part of her corporate advisory work and consulted for numerous startups.
Prior to joining Endeavor in 2008, Copland acted as the Head of Red Envelope Entertainment, the former original content division of Netflix, where she oversaw the acquisition, marketing and distribution of close to 100 films a year during their three years in existence. She developed a reputation for successfully forging innovative partnerships with studios and mini-majors, boutique distribution labels and nontraditional, new media-focused outlets. Her previous entertainment industry experience includes time at New York-based Cinetic Media, years as an independent producer as well as posts at the Tribeca Film Festival and IFP.
Across her entire career, Copland has built in a double bottom line approach to her practice and has a deep focus on social justice reform and impact focused content. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the Board of Represent Justice as well as the advisory boards of SommTV and EngageStream. Copland is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with degrees in both English Literature and Art History.
