Our People

David Brenner
Partner

David founded Marathon Ventures in October 2000. He also founded HalfthePlanet.com, a gateway Internet site for the disability community where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception until July 2000.

He concluded a 16-year career with MCA/Universal Studios, Inc. in 1997 as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Advertiser-Supported Programming for the MCA/Universal Television and Home Entertainment Groups.

He served on the executive committee of USA Networks and as Executive Vice President of Premier Advertiser Sales, a joint advertising sales venture of MCA/Universal and Paramount Pictures Television.

A graduate of Stanford University, he is vice president and secretary of the Board of Trustees at Research to Prevent Blindness and the former chairman of Richmond Community Services, a nonprofit organization serving people with severe disabilities in Westchester County, New York.

Jake Brenner
Partner

Jake is responsible for sales at Marathon, managing the sale of direct response and paid programming inventory in syndication, cable and broadcast television for all of Marathon’s content partners.  He is also the architect of the proprietary sales and financial management tools that provide Marathon with significant competitive advantages in the direct response marketplace.

He has done extensive work in Branded Entertainment sales, focusing on both integrated partnerships and Marathon’s proprietary Digital Brand Integration for clients including NBC Universal, FOX Broadcasting Company and the CBS Television Network.

Prior to joining Marathon, he worked in brand management for GlaxoSmithKline in Puerto Rico. He speaks Spanish.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, he spent one year in Singapore as a Fulbright Scholar and is involved with several non-profits focused on providing access to education including Vittana.org and The Opportunity Network.

Charles Liotta
Senior Vice President of Sales

Charles has more than 14 years of experience in multiple facets of the television advertising industry. In his previous role at AT&T Ad Works, he managed multiple teams across various media, including traditional and interactive television as well as advertising for mobile and online.

After starting his career in the UPN/CBS sales department, he moved to Deutsch to manage accounts such as Revlon, Mitsubishi and Starwood.   At DirecTV he played an integral role in creating the sports planning division; and at Fox News he managed multi-regional planning for national buys.

Born and raised in New York and an avid fan of the city’s sports teams, Charles is a graduate of St. Johns University. He enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife, two children and dog.