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1 year ago
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Mark Burnett, Chairman of MGM’s Worldwide Television Group, is exiting aft the company’s $8.5B acquisition by Amazon.
Burnett is leaving the institution and volition instrumentality to “independently creating and innovating” but volition proceed to oversee his bequest series, which see Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice.
Last week, Deadline revealed that the antheral down The Apprentice, was weighing his options arsenic the fold-up betwixt Amazon and MGM gains pace.
More details astir the wide operation betwixt Amazon and MGM are expected soon with Prime Video and Studios brag Mike Hopkins saying unit volition beryllium “hearing much shortly” astir the re-organization.
It comes 8 years aft helium started his narration with the studio; MGM acquired a bulk involvement successful his One Three Media and LightWorkers Media companies successful September 2014 earlier afloat acquiring the companies the pursuing year.
He became President of MGM Television and Digital Group successful December 2015 and re-upped his woody successful 2018 and became Chairman of the studio’s Worldwide Television Group.
It’s understood that Burnett’s existent declaration was up astatine the extremity of the twelvemonth and there’s been rumors that he’s started talking to others astir mounting up a caller accumulation company.
Burnett has overseen some scripted and unscripted astatine the company, which is down bid specified arsenic Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, FX’s Fargo, Netflix’s Addams Family series Wednesday and the Vikings franchise.
But Burnett, who is an exec shaper of NBC’s The Voice, ABC’s Shark Tank and CBS’ Survivor, is champion known for his enactment successful the unscripted realm.
He hasn’t overseen a large fig of caller hits, relaunching his archetypal ever show, Eco-Challenge, arsenic World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, for Amazon successful 2020 but it lone aired 1 season, arsenic good arsenic boxing contention bid The Contender for Epix, and Steve Harvey’s Funderdome for ABC.
He is presently exec producing Generation Gap, alongside Jimmy Kimmel, for ABC and Fox’s Beat Shazam.
Mark Burnett’s Note:
Dear Colleagues,
We’ve worked unneurotic for a precise agelong time, successful immoderate cases for decades. We’ve innovated caller shows and maintained our bequest hits with 1 of the highest renewal rates successful planetary television. I get a batch of praise for that. But we each know it’s not astir me. It’s astir each of you.
It takes large teams of talented people to nutrient much than 3,200 full hours of tv including long-running hits similar Survivor, The Voice and Shark Tank and innovative scripted bid similar The Bible, which unneurotic person garnered 143 EMMY nominations.
In 2014 I sold a bulk of my companies to MGM and came to this storied, 100 year-old workplace arsenic President of Television. Later I sold the remainder of my companies for MGM stock and became Chairman of MGM Global Television due to the fact that I believed successful the worth of MGM.
I had a wide strategical imaginativeness to physique and turn MGM’s tv division with my dynamic team, which included buying large companies similar Evolution and Big Fish, adding planetary scripted and unscripted teams, and starting a documentaries unit. We took calibrated risks and hired large radical – and the concern grew.
That maturation was captious to MGM’s future, due to the fact that MGM needed to maximize its worth successful bid to pull a planetary streaming spouse and beryllium acceptable for its adjacent 100 years. I americium arrogant to person been portion of the squad that achieved the historical merchantability to Amazon successful 2022.
Now, aft months of collaborative modulation efforts, we person thoughtfully re- organized our teams truthful that they each person the accidental to prosper nether the enactment of Mike Hopkins, Jennifer Salke and Christopher Brearton. In these days of media layoffs I americium arrogant to accidental that everyone successful the TV part has been offered a mode to proceed to contribute. No 1 was near behind.
As I measurement distant from time to time absorption and backmost into independently creating and innovating, I volition proceed to oversee my bequest bid and beryllium disposable to each of you and to Amazon for guidance and support.
Thanks squad – I virtually could not person done immoderate of this without each of you.
Mark Burnett.
Mike Hopkins’s Note
Hi squad –
As you apt conscionable read, Mark Burnett has decided to permission Amazon and MGM to resume his enactment arsenic an autarkic creator and producer. I wanted to travel up by thanking him for his countless contributions to our success and, connected a idiosyncratic level, for his concern and counsel passim the integration. I know you’ll each agree that helium is 1 of the astir innovative, creative, and prolific tv producers successful our industry, and we person been extraordinarily fortunate to person him connected our team.
Mark’s stepping speech of people raises both opportunities and questions astir however we’ll beryllium organized moving forward. You’ll beryllium proceeding much astir this shortly.
I americium incredibly arrogant of the outstanding tv and movie contented that we produce, and look forward to 2023 and beyond, erstwhile arsenic a afloat integrated squad we proceed to physique connected this legacy. Thanks for each your committedness and dedication arsenic we head into a dynamic and palmy future together.
Mike
English (US)