Looking outside the company in a bid to reinvigourate its creative juices, HBO has turned to former UTA partner and co-head of the television department, Sue Naegle, to become its new president of entertainment.
Naegle, who will oversee all series programming and specials and will commence work later this month, replaces Carolyn Strauss, who stepped down recently with her own production deal at the pay-TV network. Naegle reports to president of the programming group and West Coast operations Michael Lombardo.
Naegle's appointment, the latest defection from UTA following the departure last weekend of three senior partners from its comedy division, marks a recruiting departure for HBO. Almost all senior appointments in recent years have involved promotions and re-shuffles of executives with long track records at the company.
Prompting that shift is a growing perception that HBO has failed to develop or greenlight enough new dramatic series to fill the critical, commercial and conversational void left by iconic shows such as The Sopranos, Sex And The City and Six Feet Under.
Not helping matters was the fact that HBO passed on Mad Men, the 1960s-set series about a high-level advertising executive that was eventually acquired by AMC and went on to win two Golden Globes earlier this year and the kind of critical buzz that HBO could once count on as its exclusive badge of distinction.
Naegle's new remit will be to restore some of the creative lustre associated with former programming chief and CEO, Chris Albrecht, himself a former agent.
'Series programming has long been at the heart and soul of HBO's programme line-up,' HBO chairman and CEO Bill Nelson said. 'To bring in someone of Sue's calibre to oversee a new generation of HBO programming is truly exciting.'
Naegle worked at UTA for 16 years where she worked with HBO packaging TV series such as Six Feet Under, The Bernie Mac Show and Alan Ball's upcoming vampire series True Blood starring Anna Paquin.
Naegle, who will oversee all series programming and specials and will commence work later this month, replaces Carolyn Strauss, who stepped down recently with her own production deal at the pay-TV network. Naegle reports to president of the programming group and West Coast operations Michael Lombardo.
Naegle's appointment, the latest defection from UTA following the departure last weekend of three senior partners from its comedy division, marks a recruiting departure for HBO. Almost all senior appointments in recent years have involved promotions and re-shuffles of executives with long track records at the company.
Prompting that shift is a growing perception that HBO has failed to develop or greenlight enough new dramatic series to fill the critical, commercial and conversational void left by iconic shows such as The Sopranos, Sex And The City and Six Feet Under.
Not helping matters was the fact that HBO passed on Mad Men, the 1960s-set series about a high-level advertising executive that was eventually acquired by AMC and went on to win two Golden Globes earlier this year and the kind of critical buzz that HBO could once count on as its exclusive badge of distinction.
Naegle's new remit will be to restore some of the creative lustre associated with former programming chief and CEO, Chris Albrecht, himself a former agent.
'Series programming has long been at the heart and soul of HBO's programme line-up,' HBO chairman and CEO Bill Nelson said. 'To bring in someone of Sue's calibre to oversee a new generation of HBO programming is truly exciting.'
Naegle worked at UTA for 16 years where she worked with HBO packaging TV series such as Six Feet Under, The Bernie Mac Show and Alan Ball's upcoming vampire series True Blood starring Anna Paquin.
No comments yet