Panamax Films

James M. McNamara is the founder and Chairman of Panamax Films.

McNamara was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Telemundo Communications Group, Inc., headquartered in Hialeah, Florida. He was previously President of JMM Management, where he focused on new media and international broadcasting. The former President of Universal Television Enterprises is a member of the board of directors of Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems, S.A., a public company, which owns and operates broadcast television and radio stations in nine European countries. He has also served as a board member of Film Roman, one of the worlds leading suppliers of animated programming.
 
From April 1996 to June 1998, McNamara was President of Universal Television Enterprises where his responsibilities included domestic syndication first-run programming and international sales. As the only executive at a major studio directly responsible for both domestic and international syndication, McNamara oversaw the distribution of all Universal television production, including live-action and animated series, specials, telefilms and Universal feature films. During his tenure, McNamara negotiated and concluded a series of output and co-production deals with RTL (Germany), TF1 (France), and ITV (U.K.), which were the largest in history. He also engineered the acquisition of assets of Multimedia Entertainment in December 1996, jump-starting a previously stagnant domestic syndication division. He also oversaw the development and production of all first-run strip and weekly programming for the company, including the hit weekly action series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”, “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Sally Jessy Raphael,” and “Jerry Springer”.

McNamara joined Universal from New World Entertainment, where he served as Chief Executive Officer from 1991 to 1995. As CEO, he was charged with overseeing the financial operations, production and distribution of all New World Programming efforts. A New World veteran, McNamara held several posts within the company’s international division before being appointed CEO. From 1986 to 1991, he was Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President and, finally, President of New World International. During his tenure, he played an instrumental role in forging international co-productions as “Zorro,” a co-venture between New World, Canal Plus, RAI, and The Family Channel.

McNamara was also responsible for elevating the international status of daytime dramas to a national obsession in many countries. He succeeded in the prime-time placement of “Santa Barbara” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” in France and Italy, where both serials became breakout hits.

Prior to New World, McNamara was a sports agent at International Management Group, representing professional golfers and tennis players. He also ran the IMG Latin America office during his residency in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began his career at IMG when mentor Arnold Palmer recommended him to management.

McNamara holds a Masters degree from the American Graduate School of International Management. He earned an undergraduate degree in business administration and political science from Rollins College. He was born and raised in the Republic of Panama and currently resides in Miami with his wife and three children.