Mark Burnett leaves MGM Worldwide Television

Mark Burnett, chairman of MGM's Worldwide Television Group, has left the studio, IndieWire has confirmed.

Burnett broke the news to staff in an internal memo, which IndieWire obtained and can be read below.

The news comes months after Amazon officially acquired MGM in an $8.5 billion deal finalized in March. With Burnett's departure, MGM's television and film arms will be headless, as Michael DeLuca and Pam Abdy left the company a month after the acquisition was confirmed.

Burnett has been with MGM Television for eight years, when he was named President of MGM Television. He was named president in 2018. Under his leadership, MGM Television significantly expanded its output by acquiring production companies like Evolution Media, which develops shows in the "Real Housewives Franchise", and Big Fish Entertainment.

Winner of 12 Emmy Awards, Burnett is one of the most experienced producers in the business, having produced hundreds of television shows for multiple cable networks, streaming, and all four major network channels. After his first big show, CBS' "Survivor", he produced popular reality series including "The Apprentice", "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?", "Shark Tank", "The Voice", "Beat Shazam", "Couplé" and "TKO: Total Knock Out". Other major Burnett shows include "Fargo" on FX and "The Handmaid's Tale," the first streaming series to win Best Drama at the Emmys.

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Read Burnett's memo below.

Dear colleagues,

We have worked together for a very long time, sometimes for decades. We have innovated new shows and maintained our legacy successes with one of the highest turnover rates in global television. I get a lot of praise for it. But we all know it's not about me. It's all about you.

It takes large teams of talented people to produce over 3,200 hours of television in total, including long-running hits like Survivor, The Voice and Shark Tank and innovative scripted series like The Bible, which together have garnered 143 EMMY nominations.

In 2014, I sold the majority of my businesses to MGM and arrived at this legendary century-old studio as president of television. Later, I sold the rest of my companies for MGM stock and became president of MGM Global Television because I believed in the value of MGM.

I had a clear strategic vision to build and grow MGM's television division with my dynamic team, which included buying big companies like Evolution and Big Fish, adding scripted and unscripted international crews and the creation of a documentary unit. We took calibrated risks and hired great people, and the company grew.

This growth was critical to MGM's future, as MGM needed to maximize its value in order to attract a global streaming partner and be ready for its next 100 years. I'm proud to have been part of the team that made the historic sale to Amazon in 2022.

Now, after months of collaborative transition efforts, we have carefully revamped our teams so they all have the opportunity to thrive under the leadership of Mike Hopkins, Jennifer Salke and Christopher Brearton. In these days of media layoffs, I'm proud to say that everyone in the TV division has been offered a way to continue contributing. No one was left behind.

As I move away from day-to-day management and return to independent creation and innovation, I will continue to oversee my legacy series and will be available to you all and to Amazon for guidance and advice. help.

Thanks to the team - I literally couldn't have done all of this without each of you.

Marc Burnett.

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