Quentin Schaffer, HBO’s Executive VP of Corporate Communications, is stepping down from his post next month after 39 years at the network. The announcement comes five months after HBO’s new parent company, WarnerMedia, disrupted status quo at the company by appointing Bob Greenblatt as content chief overseeing HBO. In turn, Greenblatt recruited his own corporate communications chief in ABC alum Kevin Brockman. Schaffer is the latest long-time executive to depart from the company.
In 1980, Schaffer joined the company as a senior publicist and witnessed the wave of innovations that began to transform HBO in the late 1980s. Schaffer steered publicity and Emmy campaigns for HBO series such as The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, Big Little Lies, The Wire, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Schaffer announced his resignation in an email to staff, in which he reflected on his experiences and memories of working at HBO. The email was fashioned as a promo script and concluded with a nod to the infamous “cut to black” ending of The Sopranos. Schaffer said that he felt that he was “lucky to have had the greatest temporary job in the business.”
In the farewell email, Schaffer highlighted a reel of HBO memories, which included “a screening of Band of Brothers on the beaches of Normandy with the men of Easy Company, my 15 minutes as Michael Jackson’s spokesman in 1995, a visit to Nelson Mandela’s office while in Johannesburg for the Whitney Houston concert, being in Moscow right after Perestroika for a screening of Stalin (I shouldn’t have been there as my daughter was born the same time), the barrage of calls after The Sopranos went to black.”
Schaffer also talked about his earliest memory that he recalls during his career at HBO, when he was sent to Nashville for a country music event. He wrote, “The legendary rock star Jerry Lee Lewis threatened my life because he didn’t like an innocent question I had asked for a press release. My HBO career appeared to be over after only 30 days. Little did I know that he was merely joking with me and little did I know I’d be at HBO 39 years (yes, longer than Glenn Whitehead).”
HBO’s corporate reshuffling has come as a result of AT&T’s takeover of HBO. It is part of an effort to reduce staff, cut costs, and streamline operations at the network.
Schaffer’s full email to his colleagues can be read below:
To: HBO Staff
Fm: Quentin Schaffer
FADE IN. When I first began at HBO, I was sent to Nashville to cover a country music special. The legendary rock star Jerry Lee Lewis threatened my life because he didn’t like an innocent question I had asked for a press release. My HBO career appeared to be over after only 30 days. Little did I know that he was merely joking with me and little did I know I’d be at HBO 39 years (yes, longer than Glenn Whitehead). FLASH AHEAD as I look back on an amazing career and the honor of running HBO’s top-notch PR operation.
FOCUS ON A MONTAGE OF MEMORIES that included a screening of Band of Brothers on the beaches of Normandy with the men of Easy Company, my 15 minutes as Michael Jackson’s spokesman in 1993, a visit to Nelson Mandela’s office while in Johannesburg for the Whitney Houston concert, being in Moscow right after Perestroika for a screening of Stalin (I shouldn’t have been there as my daughter was born the same time), the barrage of calls after The Sopranos went to black, the first ever screening of a TV Show for Sex and the City, more than 100 TCA press tours with the likes of Billy Joel, Britney Spears, George Clooney, Monica Lewinsky, 8 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies, events at the White House with Bill Clinton and then Barack Obama as well as a screening in Kennebunkport with both Presidents Bush, a daring visit to the West Bank to see the Church of the Nativity, set visits to Rome and Belfast and the final season premiere at Radio City Music Hall for Game of Thrones with 42 cast members, 1500 HBO employees and 5000 guests. Oh, and perhaps most importantly, I met my wife here.
CUT TO Present Day. Throughout my HBO career I’ve always been able to answer Yes to the two questions essential to ask in any job: Am I having fun and am I still learning. So many of you have made that possible as you were the brightest, kindest, funniest and most special people I could ever have worked with, starting at the top with my boss of 28 years Richard Plepler and my dear colleague of 35 years Nancy Lesser. Thanks to you all for such a great experience. It’s been the greatest temporary job. For 39 years. And now, when summer ends, I’ve decided to move onto something new. My wife has convinced me I could have just as much fun and learn new things if I spent more time with her. CUT TO BLACK (courtesy of David Chase).