Endemol Shine North America recently named Sharon Levy Chief Executive Officer of the company. The appointment was confirmed by Chief Executive Officer, Banijay Americas, Ben Samek.“Sharon is one of the most strategic executives in the business, someone whose creative vision is matched only by her market savvy,” Samek said. “Over the past five years, she has already positioned Endemol Shine North America as a major industry player and unleashed the creativity of her group. I look forward to supporting her as she leads her talented team to new heights.”
Previously serving as Chief Content Officer, a role she accepted in 2021, Levy will now be tasked with overseeing all aspects of the business and its growth. She will also continue to manage all of the studio’s unscripted and scripted programming efforts from the company’s North Hollywood headquarters. “I’m very excited to take on the CEO role for the new Endemol Shine North America as we chart its course forward during an extraordinary time for the industry,” said Levy. “I am thankful to Be for believing in me and my exceptional team and giving us the responsibility and opportunity to redefine ESNA. With Endemol Shine North America now operating solely as a production studio, we’ll move more nimbly and be better positioned to meet the challenges of the moment. It’s a new era at ESNA, and we look forward to working with partners, old and new, to create great television.”
With Levy now in place as CEO, Endemol Shine North America, which previously operated as the holding company on behalf of Banijay Americas, will operate as an independent production studio alongside the nine other Banijay-owned studios. Samek completes the reforming of Banijay’s businesses across the Americas, establishing the new Endemol Shine North America studio alongside fellow U.S.-based Bunim/Murray Productions, Truly Original, 51 Minds Entertainment, Authentic Entertainment and Stephen David Entertainment; Mexico-based Endemol Shine Boomdog and Banijay Mexico and U.S. Hispanic; and Brazil-based Endemol Shine Brasil and A Fábrica. "Historically, Endemol Shine North America served a dual role as the parent company to our subsidiaries and as its own production label,” Samek said. “Reconstituting ESNA as a pure production studio that lives alongside the nine other studios that form Banijay Americas, each with its own leadership and goals, will afford us the opportunity to work more collaboratively and efficiently and represent ourselves more clearly to our industry partners.”
During her tenure with Endemol Shine North America, Levy has launched and overseen FOX’s wildly-successful and Emmy Award-nominated "LEGO Masters," TBS’ revamped "Wipeout," "Foodtastic" (Disney+), "The Courtship" (USA/Peacock), "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for HGTV, and the Showtime original series, "Ripley." The executive also leads Endemol Shine’s top-rated food competition franchises, "MasterChef" and "MasterChef Junior." Before accepting her initial role with Endemol Shine, Levy served as Executive Vice President of Original Series for Spike TV where she oversaw the acquisition, creation, and production of unscripted series, scripted series, and documentaries."Since joining Endemol Shine North America in 2017 as President, Unscripted and Scripted TV, Levy, an award-winning producer and executive, has successfully reconfigured the studio’s Los Angeles-based programming team to work more closely with Banijay’s myriad global production companies and created an original development slate that features projects from co-owned labels worldwide with marquis talent highlighted by Will Arnett, John Cena, Nicole Byer, Keke Palmer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, John Cusack, Steve Zaillian, Gillian Flynn, and more," a recent release explains.