• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 14, 2014

Cinema advertising companies are looking to grab a slice of the TV advertising pie, and who’s better qualified for slice-grabbing than former TV ad sales executives? This week Screenvision, the nation’s second-largest cinema ad network, announced the hire of three execs with TV pedigrees to lead regional and national sales efforts.
 
First up is Leslie Wheeler, appointed vice president for Screenvision’s Midwestern ad sales. She previously worked at Viacom, including stints at MTV Music Group and the Viacom Kids and Family Group, consisting of VH1, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, and Nick Jr., among others. Wheeler is based in Chicago.
 
Screenvision also named JC Kawalec vice president of national ad sales for its Western region. Kawalec, who is based in Los Angeles, previously served as vice president of Western Region ad sales for DirecTV, where he launched interactive advertising solutions, cinema sponsorships, integrated sports programs and addressable advertising. Before that, he held positions with Nickelodeon, 20th Television and Initiative Media, among others.
 
Finally, Craig Coleman was named vice president of ad sales and marketing at the national level. Coleman previously served for three years as president of partnership marketing for NBCUniversal's Integrated Media group, where he oversaw integrated ad sales marketing programs. Before that, he served as director of marketing at Nicktoons Network.
 
The new hires are just the latest in a series of moves by Screenvision to woo TV advertisers.

In October 2013, the cinema ad network renewed a deal with Nielsen, giving it access to data that it uses to back up demo guarantees to big advertising clients. The deal enables Screenvision to draw on data gathered by Nielsen’s Cinema Audience Measurement service to verify that various cinema ad clients are reaching their target audiences with post-campaign reports delivered on a weekly basis.

Screenvision guaranteed audience demos to clients including Taco Bell, ConAgra and Magna Global as part of upfront commitments agreed earlier this year .