Streaming service Netflix is grabbing a pair of veteran television executives from AMC Networks as the latter company starts to reel in some of its content spending.
Last week, Netflix announced it had hired Carrie Gillogly and Emma Miller in executive roles overseeing content deals and series development for Netflix’s domestic streaming services. Gillogly will serve as Netflix’s director of dramatic series, while Miller has been appointed as director of overall deals and series. Both will be based in Los Angeles.
Gillogly worked for AMC Networks for more than a decade, stating as its director of scripted programming before being promoted to a senior vice president role overseeing the same initiatives at the company. Miller worked for AMC Networks for nearly nine years, also as the senior vice president of scripted development and programming.
“Emma and Carrie are talented executives, great friends, and trusted colleagues who made meaningful contributions to our original programming group for many years,” a spokesperson for AMC Networks said in a statement. “We are their biggest fans and are rooting for them as they move on to pursue new opportunities.”
While at AMC Networks, both were in charge of green-lighting what became some of cable television’s most-watched and most-followed programming, including “Fear the Walking Dead” (2015-present), the “Breaking Bad” spin-off “Better Call Saul” (2015-2022), “Into the Badlands” (2015-2019) and “Dark Winds” (2022-present).
In early May, executives at AMC Networks said they would reorient their business around consumption on streaming services, including their various free, ad-supported channels that are licensed to companies like Dish Network’s Sling TV, Paramount Global’s Pluto TV and Amazon’s Freevee.
“Our overarching goal is to distribute our shows as broadly as possible, to ensure they are visible to viewers wherever and whenever they want to watch,” Kristin Dolan, the chief executive of AMC Networks who joined the company in February, said during a recent conference call with investors and reporters.
Another way to reach streamers is to lower the price of their flagship standalone service, AMC Plus, which couples live-streaming versions of their cable channels with full catalogs of AMC programming and acquired content from other studios. Last month, executives said AMC will unveil a cheaper version of AMC Plus later this year. The cheaper version will be supported by ads; executives haven’t said how much the service will cost (the current ad-free version of AMC Plus is $9 a month).
Earlier this month, AMC’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick O’Connell said the company intends to pull back on content spending by as much as 20 percent, focusing mainly on series that are more calculated to be hits than misses.
“If there’s an economic equation that makes sense, and we can earn a reasonable margin at a reasonable risk, we will take those swings,” O’Connell said.
