52: Scott Donaton
Source: Adweek
About Scott
Scott Donaton is a creative guru, self-proclaimed stand-up philosopher, semi-pro editor of friends’ bios, maker of movements, and asker of poignant questions.
Raised in Brooklyn, Scott studied journalism at St. John’s University, serving as the editor-in-chief of The Torch, the school’s student newspaper.
Scott stormed Madison Avenue in 1996, kicking down the door at Advertising Age, where he made his way up the ranks from reporter to editor-in-chief, serving in the role for over ten years. After grabbing readers by the eyeballs as the publisher of Entertainment Weekly, Scott returned to Madison Avenue as the chief content officer of IPG’s UM global media network. While at UM, Scott was awarded the Cannes Entertainment Lion for original comedy series Always Open, produced for Denny’s with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.
With trophy in hand, Scott made the move to Digitas North America as Global Chief Creative and Content Officer, heading the agency’s connected creative practice and launching Digitas Studios to create long form content for brands like American Express, Lego, Travelers and Lenovo.
After checking East Coast Domination off his bucket list, Scott moved the party to Santa Monica as the SVP and Head of Marketing at Hulu, where he not only drove growth from 30 million to 48 million paid subscribers, he founded internal agency Greenhouse, pioneered Hulu’s branded entertainment unit, created Emmy award-nominated content, and played a key role in the integration of Hulu into Disney.
In 2023, Scott was elected to NPR’s board of directors, overseeing governance, policies and strategic direction, and likely helping ensure that the storytelling/integrity combo remains strong to quite strong at the esteemed brand.
In addition to Cannes, Scott’s work for brands like Coca-Cola, BMW, Sony, and L’Oreal has been recognized by the Producers Guild of America, Clios, D&AD, and London International Advertising Awards.