AMC Studios is becoming a standalone unit.
The cable network home to The Walking Dead announced Thursday that it has appointed Rick Olshansky and Stefan Reinhardt to serve as co-heads of AMC Studios as it looks to expand its ownership stake in original programming.
With the change, Olshanky and Reinhardt will run the in-house studio, which will now handle production and business affairs functions across both AMC and Sundance TV. They’ll continue to report to AMC and Sundance TV president Charlie Collier.
The move puts Olshanksy, head of business affairs, and Reinhardt, senior vp finance and studio operations, in charge of production of the cabler’s owned programming — including Fear the Walking Dead and Into the Badlands.
“Expanding the scope and solidifying the leadership of AMC Studios is an important step in the continued evolution of AMC Networks, as content ownership and global expansion have become significant drivers of our industry and meaningful contributors to the success and growth of our company,” said Ed Carroll, chief operating officer of AMC Networks. “Working closely with our programming and development groups for both AMC and Sundance TV, Rick and Stefan have the right expertise and practical experience to lead this expanded studio operation.”
Olshansky will be based in Los Angeles and Reinhardt will be stationed in New York.
The decision to launch a stand-alone studio comes as AMC has made an increased push for original scripted programming in the wake of abandoning nearly all of its unscripted series. The move echoes a similar split over at A+E Networks last year.
As part of the new studio alignment, vp business affairs Scott Stein will be promoted to senior vp business affairs for AMC and oversee the negotiation of development and production agreements for AMC Studios original productions. He will continue to report to Olshansky.
AMC Studios currently owns and produces The Walking Dead, Turn, Halt and Catch Fire, Fear the Walking Dead, Into the Badlands, and Sundance TV’s Rectify and Hap and Leonard.
