BET Networks has named Marisa Levy Vice President of Unscripted Programming, a role in which she will oversee the development of all unscripted programming for the network. Her hire comes amid a leadership shift at BET Networks in which Scott Mills took the helm as President in January following the departure of CEO Debra Lee, and last month’s appointment of new Chief Brand Officer Vince Hudson. Based in Los Angeles, Levy will be responsible for growing BET’s unscripted programming slate in all genres. She’ll report directly to Connie Orlando, EVP Programming, BET Networks.
Levy moves to BET with an extensive background in domestic and international television development and production. She most recently served as Creative Consultant at Viacom sister networks MTV and VH1, creating new programming and adapting international formats for the channels. Her projects included recently-announced series Just Tattoo of Us and The Valley. Prior to Viacom, Marisa served as Vice President of Content Development at TLC where she created and developed many of the network’s signature hit shows including My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Sex Sent Me to the ER, Extreme Cheapskates, Long Island Medium and Unexpected.
“We are excited to welcome Marisa to the BET family. She is a consummate storyteller with an impressive track record of understanding diverse audiences and developing content that resonates with them. Marisa’s deep relationships in the creative community along with her ability to identify and create successful, long-running programming will be key in expanding BET’s unscripted slate and building franchises around key talent,” said Orlando. . “As one of Viacom’s core global brands, we also look forward to tapping into Marisa’s keen understanding of American and international audiences to produce a variety of formats that will capture audience’s hearts around the world.”
Levy began her television career at Discovery Communications with Discovery Health Channel helping launch hit franchise Jon & Kate Plus 8 and The Duggars. She went on to serve as Manager of Television & Digital Content Development at Brainbox Entertainment, producing hit programs for HGTV and Food Network. She then joined international production company Story House Productions as Vice President of Sales & Development, producing new projects for Fox, SyFy, A&E, Discovery Channel, MTV, History, Investigation Discovery, MSNBC, and National Geographic Channel.
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