The home of Game of Thrones has found a new duo to sit on the iron throne that is head of drama series. Variety reports that HBO has promoted two of its SVPs to co-heads of drama series — Francesca Orsi and David Levine. The two will oversee all aspects of drama series development and current production. As Cyntha Littleton reports for Variety, both Orsi and Levine will report to Casey Bloys, president of programming, who was promoted last month after previous president of programming, Michael Lombardo, stepped down. According to Deadline article in May, Lombardo stepped down after his 30-year career at HBO to segue into a producing deal with the network.
Variety reports that Bloys said of the two new heads of drama, “Francesca and David have long histories at HBO. They understand the brand intimately and enjoy strong, respected relationships with the creative community. In this new structure, two talented executives are in a position to quickly green light HBO’s next great slate of drama series.”
According to Variety, Orsi has been with HBO since 2003. She started at the company as a development assistant. She has overseen series such as The Leftovers, Boardwalk Empire, Big Love and Getting On. Currently, she oversees Vinyl and Big Little Lies.
Deadline reports that David Levine currently oversees Westworld from JJ Abrams and Jonah Nolan, Game of Thrones, Sharp Objects, as well as The Knick on popular sister network Cinemax. Levine joined HBO in 2009 as a consultant, was promoted to vice president of HBO Entertainment in 2011 and then senior vice president in 2014. Previous series that Levine shepherded include True Detective and True Blood.
HBO drama has been heating up this spring, with new series The Deuce, created by The Wire’s David Simon and George Pelecanos, according to Deadline. HBO is also shooting pilots as reported by Deadline — Succession from executive producer and mastermind behind The Big Short Adam McKay and Mogadishu, Minnesota, which is executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow, director of Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker. Also coming soon is the previously mentioned drama Westworld, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris and is set to premiere this fall, per Deadline.