Amy Powell has been named president of Paramount TV, the revived TV production studio of Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures.
Powell has led Paramount Pictures’ digital arm for the last two years, as president of the company’s micro-budget Insurge Pictures. She was instrumental in releasing Ben Stiller’s “Burning Love,” a hit comedic series on Yahoo! that recently received an Emmy nomination, and also spearheaded the releases of “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” “The Devil Inside” and “Katy Perry: Part of Me.”
Paramount’s TV arm will finance and develop small-screen fare for all platforms, from digital episodic content to primetime series. The new division returned to production in March, with the pilot for CBS’ “Beverly Hills Cop,” which ultimately wasn’t picked up.
“Amy has proven herself to be a highly talented, innovative and creative executive,” said Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey in a statement. “Her skill and experience working across all platforms, at engaging audiences, and, most recently, her work at Insurge, will be instrumental as we build a versatile television operation.”
Brief Take: Having proven herself a savvy, creative executive in the online space, Powell will have to prove that she can apply that savvy to today’s challenging TV environment.
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