Exclusive: Earlier this morning, Amazon revealed that it was laying off several hundred employees across Prime Video and Amazon Studios as part of a review of its business.
Details have emerged about the cuts, which were described by one source close to the company as a “bloodbath”. Senior execs let go include Nancy Cotton, Arturo Interian, Marcy Kaplan, Chris Castallo and Uri Fleming across different divisions.
Most of the exits are a result of the integration of Lindsay Sloane’s MGM Scripted Television team alongside MGM+ and the Barry Poznick-led MGM Alternative TV under Chris Brearton, VP, Corporate Strategy, Prime Video and Studios. Sloane and Poznick’s teams will continue to work closely with the studios teams in developing for Prime Video and also will continue to produce for outside networks and streamers.
Also impacted by layoffs in a consolidation move are multiple other Amazon MGM Studios teams, including Studio Marketing,...
Details have emerged about the cuts, which were described by one source close to the company as a “bloodbath”. Senior execs let go include Nancy Cotton, Arturo Interian, Marcy Kaplan, Chris Castallo and Uri Fleming across different divisions.
Most of the exits are a result of the integration of Lindsay Sloane’s MGM Scripted Television team alongside MGM+ and the Barry Poznick-led MGM Alternative TV under Chris Brearton, VP, Corporate Strategy, Prime Video and Studios. Sloane and Poznick’s teams will continue to work closely with the studios teams in developing for Prime Video and also will continue to produce for outside networks and streamers.
Also impacted by layoffs in a consolidation move are multiple other Amazon MGM Studios teams, including Studio Marketing,...
- 1/10/2024
- by Peter White and Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The elaborate escape of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn as he awaited trial on charges of financial misconduct in Japan made international headlines earlier this year. Now the alleged architect of that escape, private security operative Michael Taylor, is the subject of a feature-length film and television series, developed in tandem by Sam Rockwell, writer Davey Holmes, Vanity Fair Studios and MGM/UA TV where the Rockwell’s production banner Play Hooky has a first-look deal.
Rockwell is attached to star as Taylor in the feature film, which will tell the story of Ghosn’s harrowing escape. He will also executive produce the feature and the TV series, along with his Play Hooky producing partner Mark Berger. Rockwell will not star in the series, which will focus on a younger Taylor and how he got involved in private security jobs after he left the military.
Davey Holmes, who developed...
Rockwell is attached to star as Taylor in the feature film, which will tell the story of Ghosn’s harrowing escape. He will also executive produce the feature and the TV series, along with his Play Hooky producing partner Mark Berger. Rockwell will not star in the series, which will focus on a younger Taylor and how he got involved in private security jobs after he left the military.
Davey Holmes, who developed...
- 12/18/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
The newly formed MGM/UA Television label has found a president in Steve Stark, who previously served as MGM’s president of scripted television production and development.
MGM Worldwide Television Group chairman Mark Burnett made the announcement late Friday, adding that Stark has extended his contract with the studio as part of his new role.
“We are pleased that Steve has extended his deal and is now focused on this new specialized division, as I find new ways to expand the overall MGM TV global group through several new labels,” said Burnett. “This supports our broader commitment to grow MGM’s incredible library IP, just as Steve recently did with the new ‘Vikings: Vahalla’ series. Our IP is unparalleled and is in great demand”.
Stark has been with MGM since 2011. Prior to that he served as president and exec producer of Steve Stark Productions, which had an overall deal with NBCUniversal Television.
MGM Worldwide Television Group chairman Mark Burnett made the announcement late Friday, adding that Stark has extended his contract with the studio as part of his new role.
“We are pleased that Steve has extended his deal and is now focused on this new specialized division, as I find new ways to expand the overall MGM TV global group through several new labels,” said Burnett. “This supports our broader commitment to grow MGM’s incredible library IP, just as Steve recently did with the new ‘Vikings: Vahalla’ series. Our IP is unparalleled and is in great demand”.
Stark has been with MGM since 2011. Prior to that he served as president and exec producer of Steve Stark Productions, which had an overall deal with NBCUniversal Television.
- 2/22/2020
- by Elaine Low
- Variety Film + TV
Steve Stark, MGM’s President of Scripted Television Production & Development, has been named President of MGM/UA Television, a newly created label. The appointment is part of a new contract Stark has signed with Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Worldwide Television Group, run by Chairman Mark Burnett.
Over the past eight years, Stark, a well-liked and respected executive, has grown MGM’s scripted footprint with the award-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale and Fargo, both heading into their fourth seasons, as well as Vikings, Get Shorty, Condor, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Perpetual Grace Ltd, among others.
The newly formed MGM/UA Television division, which will replace MGM Scripted Television, aims to continue UA’s 100-year legacy of putting the artist and the creative first.
“We are pleased that Steve has extended his deal and is now focused on this new specialized division, as I find new ways to expand the overall...
Over the past eight years, Stark, a well-liked and respected executive, has grown MGM’s scripted footprint with the award-winning series The Handmaid’s Tale and Fargo, both heading into their fourth seasons, as well as Vikings, Get Shorty, Condor, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Perpetual Grace Ltd, among others.
The newly formed MGM/UA Television division, which will replace MGM Scripted Television, aims to continue UA’s 100-year legacy of putting the artist and the creative first.
“We are pleased that Steve has extended his deal and is now focused on this new specialized division, as I find new ways to expand the overall...
- 2/22/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s bestselling young adult sci-fi thriller novel, “Aurora Rising,” has been optioned by MGM Television for development into a TV series.
MGM will serve as international distributor, and MGM Television will produce the series. Bill Todman, Jr. and Edward Milstein (“Ace Ventura”) will executive produce, and Limor Hakim co-produce for Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers. Showrunners and writers are currently being interviewed.
Per MGM: “Set in the year 2380, Aurora Rising follows Ty Jones, the top cadet of the Aurora Academy, and his unwanted squad of misfits and losers as they slowly realize that the girl they rescued from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep may be the catalyst for a war millions of years in the making.”
Also Read: 'The Haunting of Hill House' Star Oliver Jackson-Cohen Exclusive StudioWrap Portraits (Photos)
“Amie and Jay have created something really special with ‘Aurora Rising.
MGM will serve as international distributor, and MGM Television will produce the series. Bill Todman, Jr. and Edward Milstein (“Ace Ventura”) will executive produce, and Limor Hakim co-produce for Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers. Showrunners and writers are currently being interviewed.
Per MGM: “Set in the year 2380, Aurora Rising follows Ty Jones, the top cadet of the Aurora Academy, and his unwanted squad of misfits and losers as they slowly realize that the girl they rescued from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep may be the catalyst for a war millions of years in the making.”
Also Read: 'The Haunting of Hill House' Star Oliver Jackson-Cohen Exclusive StudioWrap Portraits (Photos)
“Amie and Jay have created something really special with ‘Aurora Rising.
- 6/13/2019
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
Exclusive: MGM Television has optioned Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s bestselling Ya sci-fi thriller Aurora Rising, to develop as a TV series. MGM Television will produce and MGM will internationally distribute the series. They are currently out to showrunners and writers.
The novel, which was published on May 7, is from Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.
Set in the year 2380, Aurora Rising follows Ty Jones, the top cadet of the Aurora Academy, and his unwanted squad of misfits and losers as they slowly realize that the girl they rescued from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep may be the catalyst for a war millions of years in the making. The book, the first in the Aurora Cycle, is slated for publication in ten foreign territories, with more in the works.
Bill Todman Jr. and Edward Millstein will executive produce with Limor Hakim co-producing for Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers. Max Kisbye, MGM’s Executive Vice President, Television Development and Production and Rob Hochberg, Director, Television Development and Production, will oversee the series for MGM Television.
“Amie and Jay have created something really special with Aurora Rising. Their novel blends comedy, action and heart seamlessly in such a wonderful way. We are all looking forward to working with them, Bill and the whole creative team at Level 1 to bring this impressive story to television,” said Steve Stark, MGM President, Television Production and Development.
“We are beyond excited to be working with MGM Television, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff to make this epic space opera into a fantastic television series,” said Todman and Milstein.
MGM Television is also developing Kaufman’s bestselling Starbound Trilogy, co-written by Meagan Spooner. Eric Balfour, Stephanie Varella, Martin Berneman and Warren Littlefield are executive producing.
Kaufman and Kristoff are represented by Stephen Moore at The Kohner Agency.
The novel, which was published on May 7, is from Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.
Set in the year 2380, Aurora Rising follows Ty Jones, the top cadet of the Aurora Academy, and his unwanted squad of misfits and losers as they slowly realize that the girl they rescued from hundreds of years of cryo-sleep may be the catalyst for a war millions of years in the making. The book, the first in the Aurora Cycle, is slated for publication in ten foreign territories, with more in the works.
Bill Todman Jr. and Edward Millstein will executive produce with Limor Hakim co-producing for Level 1 Entertainment. Kaufman and Kristoff will serve as consulting producers. Max Kisbye, MGM’s Executive Vice President, Television Development and Production and Rob Hochberg, Director, Television Development and Production, will oversee the series for MGM Television.
“Amie and Jay have created something really special with Aurora Rising. Their novel blends comedy, action and heart seamlessly in such a wonderful way. We are all looking forward to working with them, Bill and the whole creative team at Level 1 to bring this impressive story to television,” said Steve Stark, MGM President, Television Production and Development.
“We are beyond excited to be working with MGM Television, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff to make this epic space opera into a fantastic television series,” said Todman and Milstein.
MGM Television is also developing Kaufman’s bestselling Starbound Trilogy, co-written by Meagan Spooner. Eric Balfour, Stephanie Varella, Martin Berneman and Warren Littlefield are executive producing.
Kaufman and Kristoff are represented by Stephen Moore at The Kohner Agency.
- 6/13/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
TriStar’s Lindsay Sloane[ has joined MGM Television as executive vice president, Television Production & Development. She was the head of TV for her now-former employer. Additionally, Max Kisbye has been promoted to senior vice president in the same department. He’ll continue to oversee FX’s “Fargo” from that post. The Production & Development unit is led by Roma Khanna, president, Television Group and Digital. MGM also has “Teen Wolf” and “Vikings” currently on TV. Other internal MGM moves include Nathan Taylor’s elevation from creative executive to director of Development, and Rob Hochberg being upped from executive assistant to creative executive.
- 8/31/2015
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
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