Yahoo Movies Hilda Somarriba Joins 42West As VP Entertainment Marketing
EXCLUSIVE: Longtime independent public relations professional Hilda Somarriba has joined 42West as VP in the company’s Los Angeles Entertainment Marketing division.
Somarriba joins existing VP Diana Peters, who has been with the company since last fall. Both report to Annalee Paulo, President—Entertainment Marketing (West Coast), and they will also work closely with CEO Amanda Lundberg and Tom Piechura, President—Entertainment Marketing (East Coast) as well as the entire bicoastal team.
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“For ages, I’ve witnessed Hilda successfully guide indie filmmakers and their films from being festival unknowns to taking the awards stage. Her unrivaled passion and PR acumen are great assets for 42West. Diana’s commitment to her clients is steadfast and—coupled with her mastery in above-the-line, crafts PR, and content campaigns—she is unstoppable,” said Paulo. “Hilda and Diana are leaders whose expertise, deep industry connections, and love for entertainment and pop culture are advantages for any client in need of strategic PR counsel, and we are very proud to count them on our roster at 42West.”
Somarriba began her career as an assistant at MTV Networks before joining PMK/HBH. In 2008, she launched Prism Media Group providing targeted, dynamic marketing and public relations services for both the general and Latin market media. Representing more than 100 films at top international film festivals—such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, and Toronto—she collaborated with filmmakers, directors, and production companies by creating awareness on diverse media platforms for projects such as The Painted Bird, Possessor, Paradise Hills, First Reformed, Colossal, The Rider and Swiss Army Man. She also led the festival, release and awards campaigns for Corpus Christi, Poland’s 2020 Oscar entry, to a nomination for Best International Feature.
For the last five years, Somarriba has headed PR for the prestigious Animation Is Film festival alongside 42West. Other clients and projects under her Prism banner included: Cold Iron Pictures (Swiss Army Man), Marginal Mediaworks, Deon Taylor’s Hidden Empire Film Group (Lionsgate’s Traffik, Sony’s The Intruder starring Dennis Quaid, Fatale starring Hilary Swank), Lightning Entertainment, James Wan (Saw, Insidious), EFO Films (End of Watch, Lone Survivor, Silence) and the Gasparilla Film Festival. Somarriba also served as a consultant for various topline entertainment public relations agencies including Accolade PR, Maxine Leonard PR, MPRM Communications, Cinetic Media, Slate PR and Fifteen Minutes PR.
With over two decades of public relations experience, Peters began her career in New York at Rachel McCallister & Associates and moved up the ranks through leadership positions at Fox Searchlight Pictures, Rogers & Cowan, and as Vice President at The Weinstein Company. From 2018-2020, Peters served as a senior member of the 42West awards publicity team where, in a less than two year period, she helped garner 59 Oscar nominations and eight wins for films such as 1917, The Favourite, Joker, Jojo Rabbit, and Avengers: Endgame. She returned to the company last year as Vice President and leads PR release and awards campaigns for television, streaming, and film clients such as Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, HBO, HBO Max, Lionsgate, and Paramount Pictures.
Previously, Peters lent her expertise to agencies such as ID Public Relations, LTLA Communications and Sunshine Sachs, executing television debut, film release and awards campaigns for a wide range of titles including the Oscar nominated films Lion, Lady Bird, The Breadwinner, Mudbound, Molly’s Game, Baby Driver, The Florida Project, and Oscar winner Sound of Metal.
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