Peter Friedlander will be Amazon’s new head of global television, following a 14-year tenure at Netflix.
The veteran TV executive succeeds Vernon Sanders, who announced his exit last week. Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios head Mike Hopkins shared the news in a memo to staff Thursday.
“I can’t wait for Peter to ramp up and meet all the teams, and I know he’s equally ready to get started,” Hopkins said. Freidlander’s first day will be Oct. 6. Friedlander will head Amazon MGM Studios’ original TV slate in the U.S. and globally, along with MGM Television and MGM Alternative.
Friedlander served as one of Netflix’s longest running creative executives, joining in 2011 as the first dedicated employee on the streamer’s original series team. He oversaw Netflix’s most well-known titles including “House of Cards,” “Black Mirror,” “Mindhunter,” “Marvel’s Daredevil,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Narcos” and “Love, Death and Robots,” among others.
News of his Netflix exit surfaced in August alongside the news that Jinny Howe was promoted to head of UCAN scripted series. He and executive Cindy Holland were key to Netflix’s growth in scripted originals and as a streaming powerhouse. With Friedlander’s hiring now both he and Holland are working at rival streamers, as she takes over Paramount+ in the newly merged Paramount under Skydance.
Friedlander’s hiring also comes after big shakeups at the Amazon studio, following Sanders’ and Jennifer Salke’s exit back in March.
Read the full memo to staff below:
Team,
Please join me in welcoming Peter Friedlander, who joins Amazon MGM Studios as our new head of global TV. In this role, Peter will oversee our original TV portfolio in the US, in addition to our global tentpole titles, MGM Television and MGM Alternative. Peter joins us from Netflix, where he led their scripted series division for the past 4+ years, having joined that company initially in 2011. His resume at Netflix speaks for itself, as his tenure brought global audiences shows like Wednesday, Bridgerton, Monster, Ozark, Emily in Paris, The Queen’s Gambit, Stranger Things, The Night Agent, 3 Body Problem, Black Mirror and more. He joined Netflix as the first dedicated original series employee, helping to shepherd their first generation of shows, including House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, among others.
Prior to Netflix, Peter was an executive at Tom Hanks’ and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone, where he produced the Emmy-nominated drama series Big Love and served as a creative executive on many of the company’s feature films. Peter began his career working on film sets, including Road To Perdition and Austin Powers In Goldmember.
I can’t wait for Peter to ramp up and meet all the teams, and I know he’s equally ready to get started on Day 1, which will be Monday, October 6. Please join me in congratulating Peter on his new role and in welcoming him to Amazon.
