Netflix hires AMC scripted content chiefs

Carrie Gillogly & Emma Miller

Emma Miller and Carrie Gillogly, co-heads of AMC’s scripted team, have both left the US network to join streaming service Netflix.

Miller, who was AMC Networks’ SVP of development, has joined the streamer as director of overall deals, series, for the US and Canada, reporting in to Nne Ebong, VP of overall deals, series.

Gillogly, meanwhile, was SVP of programming at AMC Networks, and has been hired by Netflix as director of drama series for the US and Canada, reporting in to VP of drama series, Jinny Howe.

Both execs had served long stints at AMC, with Miller spending 11 years at the network and Gillogly working there for nine years. In 2020, the pair were jointly promoted to co-head AMC’s scripted team.

Since joining the company in 2012, Gillogly oversaw shows including Into The Badlands and The Terror, while Miller, who joined AMC in 2014, worked on shows including Fear The Walking Dead and Hell On Wheels.

Miller and Gillogly had reported to EVP of scripted, Ben Davis, at AMC, who will continue to lead the division, under Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios.

Fear The Walking Dead

Cost-cutting & ad focus

Miller and Gillogly’s departure comes three months after AMC Networks shared plans to cut its content spending by around 20% this year, down to $1.1bn from $1.35bn in 2022.

The reduction, of around $250m, is part of efforts to “strike the right balance between continued investment in the business and generating sufficient sort of profits and cash flow in the near-term,” said CFO Patrick O’Connell in February.

The company, which operates flagship AMC Network and Sundance TV, as well as platforms AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE, has struggled to make the move into streaming and is facing pressure from stalling subscriber growth.

The network has been looking to expand its FAST reach, striking a pact with Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment earlier this month, which will bring channels for shows such as The Walking Dead and Portlandia to the Redbox Free Live TV service.

It has also unveiled plans for ad-supported version of its AMC+ streaming service to roll out later this year.

Last month, the network also announced that it was in development on a potential third series in its expanding Anne Rice Immortal Universe, based around the Talamasca, a secretive organization featured in a number of Rice’s novels that is devoted to studying the supernatural world and keeping mortals safe from its darkest elements.

The show would sit alongside existing AMC and AMC+ series Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire and Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, with John Lee Hancock attached as showrunner and writer.