Len Amato, President of HBO Films, Miniseries and Cinemax is leaving the premium network after a thirteen year stint at the company, as reported by Deadline. Although this comes amid the recent news of restructuring occurring across HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia – the company was forced to consolidate its workforce following reports of economic losses – Variety claims that Amato’s departure is unrelated to these events.
Amato’s move to step down is said to be a function of HBO’s new business model, as Cinemax continues to redirect its interests away from producing original programming, and HBO diverts its’ attention towards acquiring more movie-based content.
Moving forward, all drama programming, including fiction-based limited series, like the upcoming series The Undoing, will now be consolidated under HBO Executive VP of programming, Francesca Orsi. Senior VP Tara Grace, who previously reported to Amato, will now continue her oversight of HBO original films under the purview of Orsi.
Deadline reports that HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys had this to say about Amato’s departure:
“Len’s dedication and passion for the craft have attracted some of the biggest names in creative talent. His contributions over the years have played a critical role in some of our finest programming. We truly wish him the best as he starts this next chapter.”
Amato joined HBO in 2007 as a senior VP before he was promoted to president of HBO films the following year. Within his time there, Amato earned the network several Emmy nominations in Outstanding Made For Television Movie on projects like Grey gardens, Temple Grandin, Game Change, Behind the Candelabra, The Normal Heart and Bessie. Amato took over responsibilities for oversight of miniseries and Cinemax last year when 25-year HBO veteran Kary Antholis stepped down in his role as President.
Variety reports that Armato had this to say about his departure:
“I’ll always cherish my experience at HBO, not only because there was no higher standard to aspire to artistically in television, but because the artists and colleagues I worked with were incredibly talented, dedicated and inspirational. I learned a lot and am forever grateful for such a once in a lifetime opportunity.”