Lionsgate Television Group Vice Chairman Sandra Stern is exiting her role at the end of March. The 23-year veteran will continue her relationship with the studio as a long-term consultant to the TV group.
In her role as vice chairman and Lionsgate’s highest-ranking female executive, Stern has been instrumental in helping the studio become a leading independent television organization, delivering more than 80 scripted and unscripted series to dozens of streaming, broadcast, cable, FAST and digital media platforms.
During her tenure, Stern has helped shepherd series such as “Mad Men,” “Weeds,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Nashville” and “Orange is the New Black.” She also has been a driving force behind the launch of Apple TV’s “The Studio,” which won a record 13 Emmys including Best Comedy, as well as Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives,” USA Network’s “The Rainmaker,” CBS’ “Ghosts” and ABC’s “The Rookie.” Lionsgate Television has secured renewals for 12 of its 13 current scripted series.
In addition, Stern was a key player in the acquisition and integration of eOne, which added thousands of titles to the Lionsgate library, diversified its slate and expanded its reach into procedurals, and has helped shepherd the studio’s s collaboration with talent management and production company 3 Arts Entertainment, with which it partnered on “The Hunting Wives,” and its minority investment in the UK-based talent management company 42, where Stern sits on the board of directors.
Stern joined Lionsgate in 2003 as executive vice president for business and legal affairs. She would be promoted to COO of the Television Group in 2005, president of Lionsgate TV in 2015 and vice chairman of the TV group in 2022. Before joining Lionsgate, she served as chief operating officer of Artists Television Group, where she helped create and structure the company and directed its business affairs, legal, finance, administrative and production operations.Prior to that, she worked for eight years, first as senior vice president, then executive vice president, of the Columbia TriStar Television Group at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“Sandra has been my friend, partner and protégé for the past 40 years,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement. “She is an amazing strategist with unparalleled relationships with our partners, and few people understand our business as well as she does. Sandra has been a pillar of our studio’s growth and success for 23 years. Whatever she chooses for the next phase of her career, she will remain a valued and cherished member of our Lionsgate family.”
“I am so grateful to Jon for the empowerment, inspiration and support he has given me throughout my career as my boss, mentor and friend. The 23 years I have spent with Jon, Kevin [Beggs] and the rest of the Lionsgate team have been the most personally and professionally rewarding for me, and the relationships I have formed and the friends I have made within my extended television family over my career made my decision to try something new a difficult one,” Stern said. “But I know that I am leaving our Television Group in an incredibly strong position, with a great slate of series, a robust creative pipeline and an exceptional team of executives to move them forward, and I am excited to explore other passions and embark on new adventures beyond the world of television.”
In addition to her work at Lionsgate, Stern is a founding member of UCLA Law School’s LEAD program and serves on the board of its Ziffren Center, where she has also taught for the past eight years. She also serves on the boards of the Saban Community Clinic, which honored her last year with the Lenny Somberg Award for philanthropic leadership and advocacy, and the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center and Center Theatre Group.
Additionally, she is an active member of the Rape Treatment Center and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, which honored her with its Excellence in Mentoring Award, has been honored with humanitarian leadership awards by the Jonsson Cancer Center’s Taste for a Cure event and the I Have a Dream Foundation – Los Angeles and was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame last fall.
