US-based company behind Severance and The Night Manager to be led by Graham Taylor
Fifth Season co-chief exec Chris Rice is to step down from the company.
Rice has opted not to extend his contract at the CJ ENM-owned producer and distributor, and will depart at the end of the year, with Graham Taylor taking sole charge.
Rice will remain an advisor to the company and will continue to work on some Fifth Season projects. He has also struck a first-look deal with the LA firm.
Taylor and Rice started working together at WME in 2010 when they led the agency’s global TV unit, before it was spun off into a separate entity known as Endeavor Content.
It was behind shows such as The Night Manager for the BBC and AMC, before rebranding in late 2021 following its acquisition by Korean giant CJ ENM and Toho Studios.
Its slate ranges from Peacock’s The Good Daughter to Apple TV+ shows Severance and Chief of War, while upcoming series include an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden for Netflix.
Rice confirmed the news in a memo to staff seen by Broadcast International, in which he said he was “choosing to start a new chapter, leaving the company in the immensely capable hands of Graham as sole CEO.”
Rice added: “Having shepherded the continued growth of the business for four years since spinning out of Endeavor, it is time now for me to move on to my next entrepreneurial season.
“None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary backing from Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and Endeavor that led to Graham and me founding Endeavor Content in 2017.
“It was the birth of what I still believe to be the premier independent television studio, film producer and television distributor in the world.”
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