LOS ANGELES, April 15 (Reuters) - Joe Russo, co-director

of "Avengers: Endgame," found a memorable setting to approach

the latest hire for the independent studio he founded with his

brother. Russo invited Chris Brearton, an executive at

Amazon.com's ( AMZN ) MGM studio, to join him at the Running of

the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Over stops in the Spanish resort town of San Sebastian and a

vineyard, and lots of nudging along the way, Brearton agreed to

join the independent studio, AGBO, as a partner.

"The passion that you see around me is what's attracted me

to these two," said Brearton, referring to Russo and his brother

and filmmaking partner, Anthony Russo.

The Russos met Brearton in 2014, while still in production

on the Marvel Studios film "Captain America: Civil War," to seek

insights into forming an independent studio. The entertainment

industry lawyer shepherded negotiations with AGBO's financier,

leading to the formation of the company in 2017.

Bearton joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2018 as its chief

operating officer, and remained at the home of "James Bond,"

"Rocky" and "Legally Blonde" after its sale to Amazon ( AMZN ) in 2022.

He was working in a corporate strategy role for Amazon Prime

Video when he received the call from Joe Russo last summer that

set him on his path back to AGBO.

The Russos, who are best known for directing two of the

highest grossing movies of all time, "Avengers: Infinity War"

and "Avengers: Endgame," said they brought in Brearton to add

business expertise as they develop stories for contemporary

global audiences who consume media in different ways. He will

oversee all aspects of the company's business strategy,

operations and growth moving forward.

The studio's fourth partner is Donald Mustard, former chief

creative officer at Epic Games and a central figure in the

creation of online game Fortnite, joined AGBO in November 2023.

Sister and screenwriter Angela Russo-Otstot, who at age 15

co-starred in an early Russo brothers film, "Pieces," serves as

AGBO's chief creative officer.

"What we're putting our energy into is a blurring of the

lines between media," Joe Russo said. "Stories are going to

become more fluid because of technology and the way that you

receive those stories. Form and structure are going to become

less important."