Future Appoints Paul Hudson To New Role As Director, FutureFolio

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Future, the award-winning digital media business and one of the world's leading tablet publishers, today announces the appointment of Paul Hudson to the new role of Director, FutureFolio.

Future has sold over three million digital magazines on the iPad and other tablets, powered by FutureFolio, Future's proprietary app creation software. FutureFolio-based products have generated more than $11 million in revenues through Apple's Newsstand alone.

Paul has been lead developer of FutureFolio since its inception and in his new role will oversee its deployment in Future's software licensing and partnership publishing businesses as well as in the roll-out of Future's own tablet products.

"FutureFolio has played a key part in making Future a leader in the international tablet market, enabling us to produce innovative and highly interactive titles," said Mark Wood, CEO of Future. "Paul has always been the creative force behind FutureFolio, and will now drive forward all our Folio-related businesses, which are an increasingly important part of the company's growth strategy."

"FutureFolio is an awesome tool that lets us develop our own brands while also reducing risks for other publishers who want to get into the fast-moving tablet marketplace," adds Hudson. "This is a fantastic industry to be in, and we want readers and other publishers to feel just as excited as we do."

FutureFolio is a digital publishing tool that enables publishers to reproduce or enhance existing print content digitally so it is optimized for tablets and smartphones. FutureFolio powers the majority of Future's portfolio of more than 100 tablet brands, including highly interactive editions like Total Film, Edge, MacFormat and Mac|Life. Future has also launched a range of successful pure-play tablet editions including CyclingNews HD, Gathered by Mollie Makes, Photography Week, tech. and, most recently, Football Week.

Future licenses FutureFolio software to publishers in the U.K., U.S., Germany, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Taiwan – powering over 60 digital editions internationally. In the U.K., FutureFolio powers the highly interactive Jamie Magazine for Jamie Oliver, which was named an Apple "Top 50 App" of 2012. Ignition, an iPad-exclusive weekly digital brand developed for Auto Trader was launched last year.

Future is the AOP and PPA Digital Consumer Publisher of the Year, and won 24 nominations for the Digital Magazine Awards.

About FutureFolio (www.futurefolio.co.uk):
Built for publishers by publishers, FutureFolio is a flexible digital publishing tool that enables publishers to reproduce or enhance existing print content digitally so that it can be optimized for tablet and smartphone consumption quickly, easily and with the minimum of stress. Future has been in the content creation business for over 25 years and understands the workflow, staffing and budget constraints of publishers. FutureFolio was built to work with all these factors in mind and is the software platform for a range of leading interactive tablet magazines including Mac|Life, Total Film, Edge, CyclingNews HD and Photography Week.

About Future plc:

• Future plc is an international media group and leading digital publisher, listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR).
• We have operations in the U.K., U.S. and Australia creating 200 publications, apps, websites and events.
• We hold market-leading positions in Technology, Entertainment, Music, Creative and Sport & Auto sectors.
• Future sells more than 24 million magazines every year, that's 45 magazines sold every minute. Our most well-known brands include T3, Total Film, Classic Rock and Official Xbox Magazine.
• We attract more than 50 million monthly global unique users to our websites, which include techradar.com, gamesradar.com, bikeradar.com and musicradar.com.
• We deliver over 100 digital editions, selling over three million products since the launch of Apple's Newsstand in October 2011.
• Future exports or syndicates over 200 publications to over 90 countries, making us the U.K.'s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content.
• Future is currently Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year for both the Association of Online Publishers and the Professional Publishers Association.

SOURCE Future US