ZMC Welcomes Sally Knutson as Chief Financial Advisor & Operating Partner

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 29, 2026--

ZMC ( www.zmclp.com ), a leading private equity firm investing in companies across the media, communications, and entertainment sectors, today announced the appointment of Sally Knutson as Chief Financial Advisor & Operating Partner. In this role, Ms. Knutson will partner with portfolio company CFOs and senior leadership teams to support strategic planning, financial performance, and operational execution across the ZMC portfolio.

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Ms. Knutson’s appointment extends a model ZMC has applied successfully across other functional areas, including the firm’s existing Chief Operating Partners in talent and technology, who work alongside portfolio company management teams to accelerate value creation. Bringing nearly four decades of experience partnering with boards, investors, and management teams, Ms. Knutson is a natural fit for ZMC’s hands-on, partnership-driven approach.

Ms. Knutson is also a familiar face at ZMC. She previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Cast & Crew, one of ZMC’s most successful portfolio investments, where she partnered closely with the ZMC team on several growth, transformation, and value creation initiatives.

“Sally is among the most accomplished operating CFOs we’ve ever worked with, and we know first-hand the kind of impact she can have on a business,” said Jordan Turkewitz, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at ZMC. “From her 19 years at Cast & Crew through her work with multiple other private equity firms, she has consistently helped management teams scale operations, sharpen strategy, and deliver outcomes for investors. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the ZMC family.”

“Our Chief Operating Partner model has been one of the most powerful tools in our value creation playbook, and Sally extends that model into the finance function in a way that few people in the market could,” said Andrew Vogel, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at ZMC. “She brings a rare combination of strategic vision, operational rigor, and collaborative leadership — and our portfolio company CFOs will benefit enormously from having her as a partner and resource.”

At Cast & Crew, Ms. Knutson served as CFO for 19 years, leading the company’s finance, administration and risk management teams, helping to guide the company’s growth. Across her career, she has led multiple successful private equity exits, driven substantial EBITDA growth through organic expansion, M&A, and pricing strategy, designed and executed enterprise-wide transformations, directed multiple acquisitions, and implemented wide-ranging ERP systems unifying core business processes and providing real-time data across business segments. She has also built finance and operating organizations, held full P&L ownership, and developed leaders throughout her career — many of whom have gone on to become CFOs themselves.

“ZMC’s hands-on, collaborative approach is the way I’ve operated my entire career, and it’s the approach I came to know and trust during my years at Cast & Crew,” said Sally Knutson. “After working with several outstanding firms over the past four decades, joining ZMC felt like coming home. I’m excited to partner with the firm’s portfolio company CFOs and management teams on the strategic and financial priorities that drive durable value.”

Prior to Cast & Crew, Ms. Knutson held senior finance positions at Disney Home Entertainment, Dole Food Company, Discus Dental, Move, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She graduated with honors from UCLA with a degree in Economics.

About ZMC

ZMC is a leading private equity firm comprised of experienced investors and executives who invest in and manage a diverse group of media and communications enterprises. Founded in 2001, ZMC’s investment philosophy centers on operational value creation driven by targeted investment themes, deep sector expertise, and strong partnerships with industry and operating executives. ZMC approaches its investments in collaboration with management teams and has a successful track record of actively adding value to portfolio companies. ZMC is currently investing out of ZMC IV, L.P. See www.zmclp.com to learn more.

Sally Knutson

Russia's traditional parade marking the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II this year will take place without tanks, missiles and other military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday.

It will be the first time in nearly two decades — and in the more than four years of Russia's war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow's Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday. The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout.

Victory Day parades on Red Square involved military equipment and various weaponry every year since 2008.

The ministry statement this week cited the “current operational situation” as a reason for excluding a military equipment convoy, as well as cadets, from the parade. The statement didn't elaborate.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday blamed Ukraine and its “terrorist activity, in an apparent reference to Kyiv's strikes deep inside Russia. “All measures are being taken to minimize the danger,” he said.

The parade will feature “servicemen from higher military educational institutions of all kinds and certain service branches of the Russian Armed Forces" and a traditional military aircraft flyover, the ministry said.

World War II remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule, and the Kremlin has leveraged that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify the war in Ukraine.

Last year's parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.

It featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers and drones carried on military trucks. Fighter jets flew over Red Square, too.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7, 2025, and the authorities blocked cellphone internet in Moscow for several days in an effort to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

In 2023, the parade was scaled down, with fewer troops and military equipment on display and no flyover.

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Navy cadets march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Troops attend a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)