It didn’t take long for Susanne Daniels to land on her feet. As it turns out, the now ex-MTV Programming boss jumped ship for YouTube, where she will be vice president of YouTube Originals. Shortly before TheWrap learned of her new gig, news of Daniels’ MTV exit broke.
In the new role, Daniels will report to Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s head of Content & Business Operations. Similar to her MTV role, Daniels will manage the YouTube Originals development pipeline, overseeing production and working cross-functionally on new series.
Alex Carloss and his own team will report in to Daniels.
“Susanne is an executive whose incredible instincts have led her to consistently generate pop culture hits that audiences relate to and root for,” said Robert Kyncl, head of Content & Business Operations, YouTube. “Susanne’s deep expertise in programming will be invaluable to us and our top creators and help them foster even more ambitious projects for YouTube.”
A person with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap that Daniels was approached to renew her MTV deal, but the YouTube offer beckoned.
In Daniels’ place, Mina Lefevre has been promoted to executive vice president and head of Scripted Development at MTV. Lefevre previously served as senior vice president of Scripted Programming at the network.
Lefevre will report to MTV President Stephen Friedman alongside Lauren Dolgen, head of Reality Programming and executive vice president of Series Development.
Earlier today, Friedman thanked Daniels for her work in a memo to staff.
“In just under three years here, Susanne has helped guide our Development team to some tremendous wins, from the launch of hits including ‘Finding Carter,’ ‘Faking It,’ ‘Are You the One?,’ ‘Broke A$$ Game Show’ and, most recently, ‘Scream’; to the strengthening of existing franchises like ‘Real World,’ ‘Challenges,’ ‘Ridiculousness’ and ‘Fantasy Factory,’” Friedman said. “She’s been a strong creative talent for the brand, a thoughtful leader for the organization, and a great partner for me. I will personally miss her terrific sense of humor, her warmth and candor, and those wonderful occasions when she accidentally hangs up on a 40-person VC (sorry, Susanne – I had to 🙂 ). We wish her all the best.”
“Our Development team has a tremendously strong bench, and Mina Lefevre and Lauren Dolgen will step up and report to me as they continue their excellent work,” he said.