Todd Whiting, a 17 year veteran with NBCUniversal, has died. He was 45.
Whiting died suddenly on Jan. 4 due to a cardiac arrest resulting from pneumonia and complications from COVID-19, according to the Whiting family.
“Todd’s love of people and faithfulness in friendship is what will be missed by so many from coast to coast. Todd had an infectious smile, a quick wit and an optimistic enthusiasm that helped lift all those around him,” the Whiting family said in a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter.
Whiting left NBCUniversal in March 2021 and became self-employed after an 18 month stint as senior vp at Peacock TV. In that role, he oversaw around $600 million in content acquisitions for the launch of the streaming platform, including for series like The Office, Parks and Recreation and the Chicago franchise. Whiting also worked for over 13 years as senior vp at NBCUniversal Television in film and digital distribution.
In that role, he was part of the NBCUniversal team that championed the first ever studio deal with Netflix, which changed the way studio content was monetized and ushered in an era where the studio began licensing content to streaming platforms.
Whiting and his brother Sean grew up in La Cañada with parents Dianne and John Whiting and was a graduate of local schools, including La Cañada High School in 1994. He graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in public relations, before going on to the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia where he graduated with an MBA in 2004 and joined NBCUniversal as a management associate that year.
In 2011, Whiting met Brandon Penn, with whom he married in 2016 and lived in Manhattan, New York. In 2020, their daughter, Charlie Grey, was born, fulfilling a lifelong dream of Whiting to become a father.
“Todd loved being Charlie’s Daddy with Brandon, and the moments they shared together as a family will be remembered by all of us who cherish his memory,” the family said. Todd is survived by his husband, Brandon, and daughter Charlie.
Memorial services will be held in New York on Jan. 20 and in early spring in La Cañada, California. A scholarship fund has been created for daughter Charlie at Go Fund Me.
