Former Lifetime Exec Gena McCarthy Launches Unconventional Entertainment With Sony Pictures TV
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Sony Pictures Television is adding to its roster of non-scripted production companies.
The studio’s non-fiction group has struck an overall deal with Unconventional Entertainment, the new label from former Lifetime exec Gena McCarthy.
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It comes two years after A+E Networks veteran McCarthy left the company, where she was EVP and Head of Programming at Lifetime Unscripted and Head of Programming at FYI. She was at the company for ten years, having previously been at Discovery Channel and weTV.
McCarthy’s company will develop and produce original formats across genres including relationships, home, food, survival, Americana, competition, and crime.
In her last gig she oversaw series such as Married At First Sight and was also responsible for Lifetime series including Project Runway and Dance Moms. She was also the original series exec producer of Dirty Jobs at Discovery and worked on Mythbusters and Deadliest Catch.
The move comes as Sony has been bulking up its non-scripted business following the acquisition of Industrial Media in March 2022. The company now has stakes in nine non-scripted production companies: The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), Sharp Entertainment, B17 Entertainment, R.J. Cutler’s This Machine Filmworks, Dawn Porter’s Trilogy Films, Mary Robertson’s Maxine, Alex Stapleton’s House of NonFiction, and 19 Entertainment.
“I’m incredibly excited to bring a long-term dream of mine to life, launching a label that allows me to create across all the genres I love, for all the platforms I love,” McCarthy said. “Eli and Aaron are two of the most talented, respected, and successful production entrepreneurs in the industry, and their entire team at SPT are trusted partners who deliver hits. I’m lucky and happy to bring Unconventional IP into the market with them.”
“Gena’s incredible body of work is undeniable. Throughout her career, she has consistently made hits that resonate with wide audiences while innovating in the nonfiction space. Gena and Unconventional represent a fantastic addition to SPT’s growing portfolio, and we look forward to leveraging our partnership to build a new slate of long-running franchises,” said SPT President of Nonfiction Entertainment Eli Holzman and Co-President Aaron Saidman.
McCarthy is represented by Marc Kamler at A3.
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