Josh Sapan: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the April 4th theatrical release of his latest film, The Luckiest Man in America, Samir Oliveros — writer, director, producer, and co-founder of filmmaking collective Plenty Good — has signed with Cinetic Media for management.

Brent Lang Executive Editor IFC Films and Sapan Studio have acquired the U.S. rights to “The Luckiest Man in America,” a true-life drama about a man who figured out the secret to a popular game show. The deal follows the film’s premiere at this month’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The French drama “The Pot-au-Feu,” one of the breakout hits at the Cannes Film Festival and one of the movies that could represent France at the Academy Awards, has received a new title, Variety has learned exclusively. Now under its new title — “The Taste of Things” – the movie will also have a qualifying run to be considered in all general categories, including best picture.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sapan Studios and IFC Films have acquired U.S. rights to “The Pot-au-Feu,” Trần Anh Hùng’s (“The Scent of Green Papaya”) lush gastronomy-themed romance which competed at the Cannes Film Festival and won best director. The movie is headlined by two of France’s biggest stars, Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, who won this year’s Cesar Award for “Pacifiction.” “The Pot-au-Feu” was produced by Olivier Delbosc at Curiosa Films and is represented in international markets by Gaumont.  The movie is one of the first titles co-acquired by Sapan Studios and IFC Films as part of their output deal. Sapan Studios is a new TV and film production/distribution company run by former AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan.

AMC Networks said it paid three former CEOs –Christina Spade, Matt Blank and Josh Sapan — packages worth more than a combined $40 million for 2022.

AMC Networks posted strong fourth-quarter results, with total revenue rising 20% over the prior-year quarter to $964.5 million, while earnings per share jumped almost fivefold to $2.52.

In a surprising move, AMC Networks Chief Executive Officer Christina Spade has stepped down from the role after only three months.

AMC Networks has expanded the size of its board by one to 15 directors, adding Matt Blank, the longtime media executive who served as the company’s interim chief executive for a year.

AMC Networks has appointed COO and CFO Christina Spade as its new CEO, succeeding Matt Blank, who has held the role in an interim capacity since last September.

AMC has been through multiple phases, from its origins as American Movie Classics to its iconic anti-hero years of “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.” Now, the flagship property of AMC Networks is entering its next era, as it says goodbye to “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul” in a few months, and hello to its Anne Rice franchise, increased viewership on AMC+ and it’s biggest year of original programming yet.The way Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks, puts it to Variety, the company is experiencing “a real creative renaissance and resurgence.” “In the wake of these classic, great tentpole series ending, we’re successfully launching the next generation of classic, great tentpole series,” McDermott says. Behind-the-scenes, McDermott — who joined the company right before the pandemic hit — has been leading a great deal of that charge, following a shakeup in leadership that saw the exits of longtime CEO Josh Sapan (who became executive vice chairman), COO Ed Carroll, president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios Sarah Barnett; the addition of interim CEO Matt Blank and marketing chief Len Fogge; and the handing over of the reins from AMC Networks chairman Charles Dolan to his son James Dolan.“In that time, the company changed dramatically its ambitions and its mission directives,” McDermott says.

AMC Networks hit 9.5 million streaming subs for the first quarter of 2022, up from just over 9 million sequentially and in a newly antsy streaming world recommitted to its long-term goal of 20-25 million subs by 2025.

Matt Blank, interim CEO of AMC Networks, made just shy of $7 million in total compensation in 2021, according to a proxy filing with the SEC.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan’s compensation for 2021, his final year as CEO of the company, rose 30% over the previous year to $15.3 million.According to a proxy statement filed with the SEC Friday, Sapan’s total pay from the company for 2021 was $15.3 million compared to the $11.8 million he received in 2020 and the $20.2 million he was paid in 2019.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Sapan’s successor, AMC Networks interim CEO Matthew Blank, was paid $6.97 million for the year. Blank joined AMC Networks in his new role in August just as Sapan stepped down.Blank’s base salary for 2021 was $630,136, while Sapan’s was $2 million.

AMC Networks beat Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter and reported 9 million streaming subscribers as of the end of 2021, in line with company projections.

Ed Carroll, the longtime chief operating officer of AMC Networks, has decided to exit at the close of 2021 after 34 years at the company.

Josh Sapan, a cable pioneer who has headed AMC Networks and its predecessors in the Dolan cable dynasty for more than 25 years, is seguing to the vice chairman role at AMC Networks.Matt Blank, a contemporary of Sapan’s who headed Showtime for 20 years, has been tapped as interim CEO while AMC Networks conducts a search for a new CEO.Sapan’s move was anticipated in the two-year contract he signed in December 2020 that gave him the option to shift from president and CEO to the vice chairman role in 2022.

AMC Networks Josh Sapan offered a tribute and get-well wish to Bob Odenkirk during the company’s second-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts. Odenkirk is recovering from a heart attack suffered last month on the set of AMC’s Better Call Saul.

Better Call Saul fans may have to wait until 2022 to see how the final season of the popular Breaking Bad prequel series plays out.AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan says the company has some “shifting around due to COVID-related production delays for our shows,” according to The Wrap.“We have a fuller slate of The Walking Dead universe shows than we’ve had in some time, with The Walking Dead back and Fear The Walking Dead back at full strength, and then the second season of World Beyond,” Sapan said.“It does look likely, at this point, that Better Call Saul will move into the first quarter of 2022. That’s the way we’re seeing it right now.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorAMC Networks president-CEO Josh Sapan has a set a new contract to remain at the helm of the company through the end of 2022.Sapan has headed AMC Networks since its inception in 2011, when the company was spun out from Cablevision. AMC is home to a clutch of prominent cable channels — including AMC, SundanceTV and BBC America — but it is increasingly embracing niche streaming services amid the broader changes in the pay TV landscape.Sapan’s base salary of $2 million a year is unchanged from his previous pact.

Josh Sapan, who has guided AMC Networks since it was a Cablevision subsidiary known as Rainbow Media a quarter-century ago, has signed a contract renewal to remain its president and CEO for two more years.

By Jill Goldsmith