Chris McGurk was one of the key speakers at AFM 2024, talking about the success of Terrifier 3. (AFM photo)
Cineverse’s Chris McGurk Selected as MPN’s 2026 Fast Forward Honoree
January 19, 2026
Chris McGurk, chairman and CEO of Cineverse, is this year’s Fast Forward Award honoree, Media Play News announced Jan. 19.
The Fast Forward Award is presented each year by Media Play News, one of the five major Hollywood trades and the only one to focus on “last mile” home distribution of films and shows, to people, technologies, or organizations that move the home entertainment industry forward.
McGurk, who will be saluted in the February 2026 issue of Media Play News, is the architect of Cineverse’s transformation from a digital cinema company to an entertainment and streaming technology company, which is built around the principle that streaming and theatrical are synergistic rather than cannibalistic, and that technology is the engine that allows our industry’s crown jewel, content, to shine brighter than ever.
Cineverse distributes content across all windows and platforms, from theatrical to digital to physical, and has a library of more than 71,000 films, series and podcasts that reach 50 million unique monthly viewers. The company also has a technology organization that it built alongside its content business. Matchpoint is the company’s core technology suite for delivering streaming content, an automated and workflow platform that prides itself on efficiency and also provides tools for scalable app creation, analytics and predictive dashboards, and AI-powered quality control and metadata enrichment.
“Chris epitomizes the new type of studio executive who both understands and welcomes technology as an enabler,” said Thomas K. Arnold, publisher and editorial director of Media Play News. “After I moderated a discussion with Chris at AFM 2024, where we talked about the success of Terrifier 3 and how it was marketed through Cineverse’s own streaming platforms and technologies, I thought he would be an ideal candidate for this annual honor — and everyone I talked to about it later agreed.”
McGurk said, “I’m honored to be a part of an amazing team that continues to innovate, evolve, and surprise the industry. We have pivoted when needed, while staying true to our mission of redefining what a studio looks like in 2026. From bringing franchises back to fans in theaters — like Return to Silent Hill on Jan. 23, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and Air Bud Returns, our first family film — to growing our AI and streaming technology capabilities through our best-in-class engineering team, and strategic moves like our recent acquisition of Giant Worldwide, we are proving what’s possible when creative ambition and technical excellence come together.”
Past Media Play News Fast Forward honorees include Katherine Pond, Group VP at Vizio; Danny Fisher, CEO of FilmRise; Andrea Downing, president of PBS Distribution; and Eddie Cunningham, at the time president of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
The February 2026 issue of Media Play News becomes available in both print and digital editions on Feb. 23.
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