TOFFLER DROPS A BOMBSHELL
Van Toffler and Viacom jointly announced this morning that he’ll be leaving the company after 28 years and striking out on his own to found a content-creation and acquisition company. Toffler will leave his post as President of Viacom’s Music and Logo Group in April, but he’ll continue to executive produce a number of Viacom’s flagship events including the VMAs and the CMT Awards.
Van seemed positively euphoric in an internal memo he sent to the Music and Logo Group staff this morning, wherein he detailed his reasons for changing horses after all these years and waxed nostalgic about the old days.
“Crafting this sort of email was never in my lexicon or even a passing thought,” the memo began. “After all, who has a front-row seat and voice for decades at the crossroads of music, pop, media and sometimes even global political culture and elects to leap off? Yup, this irrational chucklehead.
When Philippe approached me last year to continue leading the brands I adore until I aged into Bad Grandpa-like triple digits, I entered into a period of consternation and dare I say short bursts of deep thinking (don't worry, very short and not that deep). And after at least a few whole minutes and many more meals than Philippe wanted to have with me, I realized at my core I needed to get back to my love of jumping off cliffs without knowing how/where I might land and making expectation defying content that boldly breaks through new boundaries. So I'll be launching a new platform-agnostic content-creation and acquisition liger (yes, that stealth hybrid animal from Napoleon Dynamite), under the working title of Below the Radar, with details to come in the months ahead. To be clear, this is a very personal decision about pursuing the loud and insatiable part of my failed musician/poet soul that needs to purely make great stuff…after a long wonderful run with all of you. But you aren't getting rid of me yet!”
After noting that the Mothership is firing all cylinders as he takes his leave and blowing virtual kisses at his fellow workers, Van made a good point about how working in this biz beats selling shoes.
“Who are we kidding? Most days this joint paid us for making magic we would beg to do for free,” he acknowledged. “Hell, I danced onstage in Rio behind Axl and Slash and I wasn't hammered…and I have no rhythm. Crazy but pretty friggin’ memorable.”
In all, it was a pretty friggin’ memorable run for this well-liked and universally respected exec.
