Amazon MGM Studios is swapping a centralised business affairs group for a genre-aligned structure, and it has hired three Netflix veterans to run much of the new model.
Diana Bernstein, Chris Carter and Matt Rea—each with more than a decade at Netflix and most recently co-heads of its drama business affairs—will start the week of October 26. Bernstein will lead drama, Carter will handle MGM and YA, and Rea will cover world-building and comedy.
From one central team to genre verticals
The reorganisation follows the departure of Dan Scharf as head of global business operations and the dismantling of Amazon MGM Studios’ centralised studios BA team. In its place, business affairs leaders sit inside creative genre verticals: drama, comedy, nonfiction, animation, world-building and IP.
Mandy Schaffer, who joined from Netflix in May as Head of Business Affairs, Global TV, explained the logic in a note to colleagues. Schaffer wrote that as the global TV slate grows, the company is moving to a genre-based BA model, aligning “dedicated BA leadership to each creative genre vertical” so that deal-making and business strategy sit with creative teams from development through execution.
Who runs what
- Diana Bernstein — Head of BA, Drama, partnering with Kara Smith.
- Chris Carter — Head of BA, MGM and YA, partnering with Lindsay Sloane and Carina Walker.
- Matt Rea — Head of BA, World-Building and Comedy, partnering with Blair Fetter and Andy Weil.
- Dan Matusov — Head of BA, Animation, partnering with Melissa Wolfe.
- Julia Shapiro — Head of BA, IP, partnering with Lauren O’Connor, who also leads first-look deals and overall pacts.
- Ryan Singer — continues as Head of BA, Nonfiction, partnering with Jenn Levy.
- Megan Shapiro — continues leading global TV deal-making with third-party studios, now called Originals Studio Partnerships.
What the move signals
For producers and agents, the structure creates a named business affairs lead per genre—a different negotiating counterpart from the old central approvals model. The test is whether that shortens deal cycles or fragments leverage across too many verticals.
Schaffer framed the change as a response to a growing global TV slate. The logic: as volume rises, business affairs cannot stay one step removed from creative choices; it needs to be inside the room where package terms, talent options and IP extensions are shaped. O’Connor’s additional first-look and overall deals remit signals that IP-level dealmaking will also have a dedicated home.
The hiring pattern matters competitively, too. Pulling three former co-heads of Netflix’s drama business affairs into Amazon MGM Studios transfers a decade-plus of dealmaking knowledge from one major streamer to another.
What to watch next
Pitching teams should map the embedded BA lead before entering a deal conversation, especially in world-building and IP, where packaging can be complex. If the structure delivers faster greenlights, other platforms may follow Amazon’s template.
Source: Deadline
