Jen Salke, the head of Amazon MGM Studios, is stepping down from her role and will focus on starting a new production entity, Prime Video head Mike Hopkins said in an internal memo sent to staff and obtained by IndieWire.
Salke has been the primary voice at Amazon MGM since joining in 2018 and has been behind the development and acquisition of shows and films like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Saltburn,” “The Rings of Power,” “Fallout,” “Reacher,” “Red One,” and many more.
No successor has been named into the role as of yet. Hopkins in his memo said the team will take a “couple of weeks” to speak with Salke’s direct reports and determine the long-term structure at the studio. Film chief Courtenay Valenti and TV chief Vernon Sanders will report to Hopkins, and marketing chief Sue Kroll will continue in her role.
Salke’s new production entity will still be based on the Amazon MGM Studios lot, and she’ll have an overall first look deal for TV and film.
“Since I joined in 2018, we set out together to create a new type of global studio that fostered an environment for the world’s most creative talent to do their very best work,” Salke added in a statement. “Along the way, we expanded internationally, built out a film business and hired and developed an incredible team. As I’ve been considering my next chapter, I’ve always been searching for that moment where I was positive that our work had set up Amazon MGM Studios for even more success in the long term. When I look at the teams we’ve put in place, our amazing leaders, and the incredible slate of films and shows we’ve got in the pipeline, I realized now is that moment. I’m looking forward to continuing doing what I love, cultivating talent, supporting their vision, and bringing compelling stories to audiences around the world.”
The news comes just as Amazon MGM finalized a deal with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in which the two would cede control over the James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM, opening the door for producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman to step in and steer the direction of what is the studio’s biggest IP. No Bond follow-up film has been produced since Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022.
Salke, formerly the NBC Entertainment president, took over in 2018 for Roy Price after he was ousted for sexual harassment allegations. In her time with Amazon, she oversaw Amazon’s biggest and most costly series in “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” for which the first season was produced for a reported $465 million, the largest production cost for a single season of TV in history. She had been behind other costly bombs like “Citadel” but also led the studio to mega hits like “Fallout” and awards darlings like “Jury Duty.” While the free shipping perks of Amazon Prime remain the biggest reason for why most people subscribe, the quality of content on Prime Video had increasingly become a major driver.
Salke’s experience had been in TV, so following the acquisition of MGM, her team brought in former Warner Bros. executive Courtenay Valenti to lead the film team and make a dedicated push for theatrical, of which the studio hopes to release as many as 16 films a year and will be touting their full slate in their debut at CinemaCon next week. Amazon also within the last year made Prime Video users default to having ads and eliminated Freevee in the process.
Read the full memo below:
Dear Team,
Since joining Amazon in 2018, Jen Salke has been a driving force in Amazon MGM Studios’ evolution into what it is today: a world-class producer of award-winning films and series viewed by hundreds of millions of our customers around the world. Original films and series served as the foundation of Prime Video’s growth into one of the world’s leading entertainment destinations, and Jen’s leadership is an undisputed driver of the success we’ve had in this space over the years.
Having accomplished so much as an executive, Jen has decided that her next challenge and chapter will be on the production side, with the aim of getting even closer to the global creative community — which she’s been such a vital member of over the course of her career. As a result, Jen will step down from her role as Head of Amazon MGM Studios in order to start a new production entity, and we’re so pleased that she’ll continue to make her home right here on our lot via an overall first-look deal across both film and TV.
In Jen’s words:
“Since I joined in 2018, we set out together to create a new type of global studio that fostered an environment for the world’s most creative talent to do their very best work. Along the way, we expanded internationally, built out a film business and hired and developed an incredible team. As I’ve been considering my next chapter, I’ve always been searching for that moment where I was positive that our work had set up Amazon MGM Studios for even more success in the long term. When I look at the teams we’ve put in place, our amazing leaders, and the incredible slate of films and shows we’ve got in the pipeline, I realized now is that moment. I’m looking forward to continuing doing what I love, cultivating talent, supporting their vision, and bringing compelling stories to audiences around the world.”
I can’t say enough to express my thanks to Jen for her partnership. Starting with my personal Day 1 in 2020, her vision, creativity and industry relationships were (and are) so apparent that I had no doubt our work together could be transformative not only to Amazon, but also to the industry as a whole. The Rings of Power, Fallout, Reacher, Red One, Maxton Hall, The Idea of You, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Saltburn, Road House, Beast Games, Culpa Mia/Tuya and others speak to the hits under her leadership that have stirred cultural conversation and delivered incredible storytelling to worldwide audiences…and that list covers only the past 18 months. In addition, her leadership is evidenced by the senior team she’s hired and developed…a team that I know will step up in a big way going forward.
Speaking of that team, we will be taking a couple of weeks to have thoughtful conversations with Jen’s directs and others to finalize the ideal long-term structure for the Amazon MGM Studios organization as a whole, and we’ll have more to share on that work soon.
One thing I did want to call out is the fact that – following Jen’s decision to step away – we’ve decided to flatten our leadership structure a bit and not fill the head of studios role. In line with Amazon’s recent work to streamline reporting lines and accelerate decision making, we felt this was the best direction for our studio, which will now operate as distinct film and television studios. To that end, Courtenay Valenti (Head of Film) and Vernon Sanders (Head of TV) will now report directly to me, while Sue Kroll will also continue in her role leading global marketing across both film and TV.
I’m immensely proud of the momentum our team at studios has built over past 12-18 months, executing against our strategic plan and developing a fantastic slate of original shows and films that position us for even more success ahead.
Please join me in once again thanking Jen and wishing her the best on this next adventure…thankfully, she won’t be far away and we still have much to do together.
-Mike
