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8 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Chris Brearton is stepping down from Amazon, 18 months after taking on a new role.
Brearton has been VP, PVS Corporate Strategy, MGM+ and MGM Alternative Television since November 2022.
Brearton initially joined MGM as Chief Operating Officer in February 2018. He spent four years in that role before taking on a broader role following Amazon’s $8.5 acquisition of the studio in 2022.
After shepherding MGM’s integration into Prime Video and Amazon Studios, Brearton took on the new role, leading business planning and corporate strategy for Prime Video and Studios and also overseeing MGM+ and MGM Alternative.
Brearton’s new role coincided with Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke taking over leadership of MGM.
Deadline understands Brearton, who is also chair of the board of directors at USA Swimming, is pursuing a “new opportunity outside of the company”.
From April 15, Brearton’s responsibilities will be divided among a number of senior execs.
MGM+, which is run by Michael Wright and Josh McIvor, and MGM Television, which is led by Lindsey Sloane, will now report to Head of Prime Video International Kelly Day.
Barry Poznik and the MGM Unscripted team will now report to Brad Beale, who is Head of Global Content Licensing.
Ted Lim, who has been running corporate strategy at MGM, will now report to Salke in the newly-created role of Head of Global Strategy and Business Development, Amazon MGM Studios.
This move gives more responsibilities to Day, who joined the company from then-titled ViacomCBS in November 2021 reporting to Mike Hopkins, and Beale, who has been with the company since 2016 and reports to Salke.
Hopkins called Brearton an “invaluable leader” (see internal memos below), while Brearton said it was a “great honor” to work at the company. Salke called him a “wonderful colleague” who was “always the first to jump in to help solve an exciting business puzzle”.
Mike Hopkins Note:
Team,
I’m writing to share the news that Chris Brearton has decided to leave Amazon to pursue a new opportunity outside the company. Chris has been an invaluable leader throughout the MGM acquisition process, and his tireless work to integrate MGM into our Prime Video/Amazon MGM Studios family has been a vital piece of our work in building a unified business and – in doing so – create even more value for our creative partners, advertisers and – most important – our customers. I’m so grateful to Chris for his partnership, and there’s no doubt we all will miss him on both a personal and professional level.
Effective this coming Monday, 4/15, oversight of Chris’ portfolio will be divided among several of our senior leaders as follows:
MGM+ and MGM Television – led by Michael Wright and Josh McIvor; and Lindsey Sloane, respectively – will now report to Kelly Day.
Barry Poznik and the MGM Unscripted team will now report to Brad Beale.
Ted Lim, who has been running corporate strategy at MGM, will now report to Jen Salke in the newly-created role of Head of Global Strategy and Business Development, Amazon MGM Studios.
Kelly, Brad and Jen will soon be sharing more details with their teams, and under their leadership I know these integrations will be executed as seamlessly and effectively as possible.
Please join me in thanking Chris and wishing him the best on his next adventure – and in hoping our paths cross again!
Best,
Mike
Chris Brearton Note:
To My MGM Family,
It has been my great honor to work alongside each of you these many years at MGM. This storied studio has been a central part of my career DNA ever since I first walked into the Filmland building in Culver City in 1992 as a young CPA. I had no idea on that day what MGM would come to mean to me over the next 30+ years.
But even before that day in 1992, MGM was a big part of my life. As a child, I vividly remember seeing Leo the MGM Lion roar for the first time on screen before watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with my father. Some years later, I was equally inspired by my introduction to the world of James Bond when I snuck into a screening of For Your Eyes Only. As I recall these moments from my youth, it feels truly surreal to now have the pleasure of working closely with pioneering producers and icons of the film industry such as Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, as well as Irwin Winkler and so many others.
I want to thank Kevin Ulrich and the Board of Directors of MGM for their belief that I could transition from an advisor to a leader. I want to recognize the work of Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jon Glickman, who came before me, and I will always be honored to have had the chance to lead MGM alongside Mark Burnett, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.
Despite unprecedented disruption in our industry, we built an incredible and dedicated team at MGM that simply would not be denied. Together, we re-invigorated this great studio as a home for story tellers. This success was demonstrated through the Lion’s robust and compelling film slate, the re-launch of Orion Pictures, the expansive prowess of television group that is responsible for producing beloved and award programs across nearly every network and platform, and the recent launch of MGM+, creating a global home for Leo and over a century of great entertainment.
I want to thank Mike Hopkins and Amazon for recognizing our success and for seeing the potential of combining MGM with the passion and resources of Amazon. I owe a huge debt to the dedicated teams led by Matt Davidson, Lesley Freeman and Ted Lim, who helped us unify MGM with Amazon to ensure that the lion will roar for another hundred years.
Finally, over the past two years, I have been able to witness Amazon become the new and prosperous home to much of the MGM family. I feel incredibly fortunate to have acted as a steward of the brand, and to have been a part of the team that shepherded this historic acquisition.
Invigorated by our dynamic and evolving industry, it is time for me to look forward to my next challenge and to build once again. To that end, it is with immeasurable gratitude that I say farewell and wish you all the best. It has truly been the thrill of a lifetime.
Ars Gratia Artis
Cheers,
Chris Brearton
Jen Salke Note:
Team,
As Mike just shared the bittersweet news about Chris Brearton’s decision to leave the company, I wanted to follow up with more details for Amazon MGM Studios.
In the last few years, Chris has been a wonderful colleague, partner and friend and we wish him the best in his new endeavor. It has been a privilege to work with Chris and I will miss him as a thought partner and a cheerleader for Studios and Prime Video. He showed endless enthusiasm for our business and was always the first to jump in to help solve an exciting business puzzle – no matter how big the challenge. I’m hopeful all our paths will continue to cross with his in the future.
As Mike mentioned, effective this coming Monday, April 15, Ted Lim will step into a new role as Head of Strategy and Business Development for Amazon MGM Studios reporting directly to me. Ted has been an incredible asset to PVS since the MGM acquisition, jumping in to help across our business in so many ways and has been a tremendous partner for me and senior leaders. In this new role, Ted will oversee Corporate and Business Strategy, Content Strategy for Film (streaming and theatrical) and International Originals, Creative Planning and Franchise Management, along with serving as the primary point of contact for business development and strategic partnerships with Corp Dev for Studios. The new consolidated leadership team under Ted will be comprised of Namita Waynee, Ryan Shuwarger, Marc Hausmaninger and Mariel Klein. Ted and team will continue to be key partners with Matt Davidson, Preetha Rajamani and our Studios Finance team, including Series Content Strategy.
Additionally, I am excited to welcome Barry Poznick and the MGM Alternative team to Amazon MGM Studios. Barry will be reporting directly to Brad Beale and will continue to develop, package and sell Unscripted titles externally. Barry and his talented team have done an incredible job building a best-in-class unscripted slate for MGM which includes some of the mega-hits in the genre, such as The Voice, Survivor and Shark Tank.
Moving forward, MGM+ and MGM Television will report into Kelly Day. It has been great to see the MGM+ growth over the past year under Michael Wright and Josh Mclvor’s leadership, and I look forward to seeing it sit even closer to the business under Kelly. Lindsay Sloane and the MGM Scripted team will continue as usual working under Kelly with close ties and mechanisms to collaborate with Vernon Sanders, Dan Scharf and the rest of the Studio teams.
Please join me in thanking Chris for his many contributions and welcoming Ted, Barry and their teams to Amazon MGM Studios!
Jen
