Chris Albrecht‘s time at Legendary Television is just about over. Albrecht is expected to vacate his post as president. He was placed on leave in October after new details from his days at HBO emerged from the book It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO By Felix Gillette and John Koblin.
According to material viewed by The Hollywood Reporter from a forthcoming book about HBO, the former network chairman allegedly disparaged a staffer who took a settlement after he choked her. Albrecht’s rep denies the allegation.
Legendary is putting its entire television business under Chris Albrecht, who was named Head of Legendary TV. As part of the move, the studio is combining its domestic and international TV businesses under one roof. As part of the move, current Legendary TV President Nick Pepper will move to an executive producer role on the studio’s projects.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht will depart next month after a decade at the company. Albrecht’s decision to step down comes two years after Starz’s acquisition by Lionsgate was completed amid the continued integration of the two companies. For the time being, Starz will move forward under COO Jeffrey Hirsch and the current leadership team, including President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik, working closely with Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.
CEO Bemoans Emmy Snubs of Starz’s Shows
“I was part of the team that invented how to campaign for Emmy awards,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht told TV writers Monday at the Television Critics Association meeting. “Trust me, it’s not a level playing field. I spent years inside the TV Academy, working it. It took a lot of money, and there’s a certain momentum that goes along with that.”
Exclusives
The same day that the premium cabler revealed 3Q numbers below expectations, Starz has been hit with a wide-ranging and potentially explosive multi-claim lawsuit by its former SVP of Sales and Affiliate Marketing Keno V. Thomas. Pink slipped a year ago by Starz after a decade at the cable net, Thomas’ unspecified but sprawling damages and jury trial seeking wrongful termination and retaliation complaint alleges all sorts of shell games and scams by Starz.
Starz CEO Decries Deals With Netflix
It is “really shortsighted for these networks to be selling their shows to Netflix,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, a former CEO of HBO, said during a presentation Tuesday morning at the annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. Netflix would not be able to attract consumers, siphoning them away from live TV screens, without the benefit of networks’ second-run programming, he argued.
