Sean Mills, the head of original content at Snap Inc., is leaving the company, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Vanessa Guthrie will lead the company’s content efforts going forward, reporting to senior vp content and partnerships Ben Schwerin.
“During his time with us, Sean has played an integral role in conceptualizing our content offerings and building our Discover content program into a successful business for our many partners, and a critical source of factual news, information and entertainment for hundreds of millions of Snapchatters,” a Snap spokesperson says. “Sean has graciously agreed to stay on and help with the transition until September — and while we will miss him tremendously, we’re excited to see what he tackles next.”
While Snap was initially focused on user-generated content, it’s content efforts have expanded dramatically in recent years. Mills helped develop Snap’s first original series, Good Luck America, hosted by former CNNer Peter Hamby, and his team has developed dozens more series, starring talent like Will Smith and Kevin Hart, in addition to homegrown talent.
The company’s latest slate of originals includes shows from Megan Thee Stallion and Charli and Dixie D’Amilio.
Of course, Snapchat is also leaning into its creator economy roots, paying creators of its Spotlight service $130 million since it launched in November.
