42West Promotes Five To Vice President

EXCLUSIVE: Public relations firm 42West has elevated five longtime publicity professionals in its Entertainment Marketing Division to VP including Taylor James, Kate Lowell, Kabeer Malhotra, Stacey Tesser and Nesma Youssef.

42West’s Entertainment Marketing Division, headed by Presidents Tom Piechura and Scott Feinstein in New York and Annalee Paulo in Los Angeles, develops and executes integrated publicity campaigns for films, TV, podcasts, filmmakers, production companies, film festivals, and more.

“Kabeer, Kate, Nesma, Stacey and Taylor are an integral part of our bi-coastal team and have been the foundation of our success of 42West’s Entertainment Marketing Division for many years,” said Piechura, Feinstein and Paulo. “With their incredible expertise, solid industry relationships and neverending commitment, they each excel at strategizing and driving first-rate campaigns for our clients. They are proven leaders and we are thrilled to launch this well-deserved new chapter in their careers.”

James joined 42West in September 2015. He has since helmed and executed campaigns of varying media including film, TV, streaming, televised events, and awards campaigns. His past and current clients include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney (Hulu, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures), Focus Features, IMAX, Ketchup Entertainment, Lionsgate, MGM+, NEON, Netflix, New York International Children’s Film Festival, Orion Pictures, Paramount (Paramount Pictures, Paramount+), Sony Pictures, Viacom (LOGO, MTV, VH1), Warner Brothers Discovery (Animal Planet, Discovery, HBO, Max, TBS, TNT, Tru TV), 101 Studios, 20th Century Fox and Playbill’s Curtain Up Broadway Festival. He has also worked on personal campaigns for creatives such as filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, production company FunMeter, choreographer Jennifer Weber, playwright Larissa FastHorse, filmmaker Mike White, band of storytellers PigPen Theater Co., Off Broadway’s Playwright Horizons and Broadway producer Vivek J. Tiwary. Prior to joining 42West, he worked as associate producer to Eva Price at Maximum Entertainment Productions, an award-winning producing and general management office for commercial theatrical productions. Taylor is bi-coastal and based in Portland, OR.

Malhotra joined 42West in June 2015, heading up the company’s Digital division before it was fully integrated into the Entertainment Marketing Division. He has since helmed and executed campaigns for various films, TV shows, filmmakers and awards campaigns, in addition to serving as an in-house digital and social media expert. His past and current list of clients includes Lionsgate, IFC Films, Neon, GKIDS, A24, Vertical, Sony Pictures Classics, Annapurna, 20th Century Fox, Focus Features, HBO Max, Showtime, Hulu, Netflix, TNT and TruTV. He has also worked on personal campaigns for filmmakers such as Michael Showalter, Morrisa Maltz, Ari Aster, Kari Skogland, Sacha Gervasi, Joseph & Vanessa Winter, the Safdie Brothers, Joshua John Miller and Carlson Young. He also regularly represents films at festivals including Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, The New York Film Festival, Fantastia and Tribeca. Prior to joining 42West, Malhotra began his career as a publicist in the music industry working at Girlie Action Media & Marketing for five years. Kabeer is based in New York.

Lowell has worked on the strategy and execution of marketing, publicity, and awards campaigns for numerous projects spanning across film, television, digital/streaming releases, as well as the personal representation for filmmakers and production companies. She also creates and implements campaigns for studio and acquisition titles at major festivals including Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Cannes, DOC NYC, Venice, and Tribeca Festival. She is based in Boston, MA.

Tesser counts two decades of global PR expertise. Her recent work includes spearheading campaigns for critically acclaimed hit films such as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Apple TV+’s The Gorge, and Magnolia’s Thelma, as well as driving award-winning strategies for blockbuster phenomena like Top Gun: Maverick and Green Book. In television, she is behind the campaigns for highly anticipated series such as NBC’s Suits LA and St. Denis Medical, alongside strategic input for select Max titles. Tesser’s experience also extends to fostering long-term success, as evidenced by her collaborations with the showrunners of The Conners and Lopez vs. Lopez. Her current client portfolio showcases her ability to champion visionary creators, including Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker R.J. Cutler, The Lincoln Lawyer co-creator/showrunner Ted Humphrey, and the prolific Kenya Barris and his Khalabo Ink Society. Prior to 42West, Tesser spent over a decade at The Walt Disney Company, where she played a pivotal role in the global success of landmark releases such as Frozen, Inside Out, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Tesser is based in Los Angeles.

Since joining 42West in October 2015, Youssef runs and oversees high-profile clients across film and television. Youssef has had the privilege of working with a diverse range of top-tier clients, overseeing theatrical, streaming and awards campaigns for Amazon Prime Video, BET Studios, Focus Features, Hallmark, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, and Sony Picture Classics. She also represents notable creatives, filmmakers and production companies such as Francis Ford Coppola, Dan Levy, Jesse Williams, Amber Sealey, Maggie Betts, Kenya Barris, David Chase, Alex Saks, Nadine Crocker, American Zoetrope, Khalabo Ink Society, and Not a Real Production Company. In addition, she regularly represents both acquisition and studio films at prestigious festivals including Sundance, NYFF, Cannes, TIFF, SXSW, and Tribeca. Youssef is based in New York.

Among 42West’s early 2025 activity, the division worked on campaigns for Oscar Best Picture and Best International Feature nominee I’m Still Here, Best Animated Feature nominee Memoir of a Snail and Best Documentary Feature nominee Sugarcane. In addition, it handled publicity for Puppy Bowl XXI (which drew 12.8 million viewers as the highest rated non-sports program on Super Bowl Sunday across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, tru TV, Max and discovery+); The Gorge (which became the biggest Apple TV+ biggest movie debut ever following its February 14 premiere); the launch of NBC’s Suits LA and full slates of films at the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals.

42West is a subsidiary of Dolphin Entertainment which earlier this year was named 2025’s “Agency of the Year” atop the New York Observer’s PR Power List.