CHATSWORTH, Calif. —Metro Interactive said Tuesday that its CEO, Ben Jelloun, is no longer with the company.
Lesley Rich, the company’s general counsel said “Zeist Technologies, an Amsterdam-based adult content provider headed by Jelloun, defaulted on its obligations, and Metro Interactive will take back all of Metro’s productions and operations.
“Rick Porras will continue as vice president of operations and sales at Metro Interactive’s new Northridge location, as the company restructures and revamps its future plans.” Rich said.
“We sat down and came to an agreement to go our separate ways,” Jelloun told XBIZ. “It’s been a great experience. Before I came along, Metro only produced DVDs. It took me more than a year to turn Metro into a large Internet company. It’s been a hectic 14 months and it’s been very exhausting mentally and physically. It was a hell of a job and I’m looking forward to going back home and exploring my other options.”
Zeist Technologies bought Metro’s assets in September 2008. The deal included Metro’s extensive adult content library and its base of operations in Chatsworth.
Jelloun took over Metro’s operations and planned to diversify the company’s content offerings by emphasizing Internet and content sales, while continuing to release new DVDs.
Metro Content produced and distributed adult movies, offering content for all platforms worldwide, including DVD, video-on-demand, web cam models and webmaster programs.
With today’s announcement, Metro Content has been dissolved and Metro Interactive is back in control.
“It’s time to make Metro a top, fully rounded company again with a full restructuring to make sure everyone is onboard and on the same page with Metro’s goals,” Alexandra Taylor, Metro’s West Coast special projects manager, told XBIZ.
Taylor added Metro Interactive is going full steam ahead in its new direction with several productions in the works along with the re-launching of its premiere product.