Amazon Studios is making some changes to its film team by naming Julie Rapaport its sole Head of Movies, while current co-head Matt Newman is transitioning into a new role in Amazon Prime Video’s global sports group.
The news was announced Tuesday in an internal note by Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, who explained that with Newman’s move, the film group will be “applying a single threaded leadership approach to movies.”
“With Julie’s top-notch leadership skills and her ability to nurture a diverse range of filmmakers – from up-and-comers to the well-established – this move will help us continue to build on our great momentum,” Salke wrote in part. “I’m grateful for Julie’s vision and continued contributions to the Studio.”
Rapaport was named a co-head of movies at Amazon Studios along with Newman back in 2018. Rapaport will continue to report to Salke.
As for Newman, he’ll be helping the sports group grow and scale and will take on a new role developing original sports docuseries, films and scripted projects. He will now report to Marie Donoghue.
“Matt helped guide our movie strategy through multiple new milestones, including the release of tentpole movies on Prime Video like ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,’ ‘Coming 2 America,’ ‘Cinderella,’ and ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.’ I’m personally so grateful for Matt’s contributions, and can’t wait to see what lies ahead for him,” Salke said.
Upcoming Amazon releases include “Master” with Regina Hall, “My Policeman” starring Harry Styles, “All the Old Knives” starring Chris Pine and “Catherine, Called Birdy” with Lena Dunham.