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Michelle Mendelovitz Exits As 20th Television Head Of Drama

Nellie Andreeva
2 min read

Michelle Mendelovitz is stepping down as SVP and Head of Drama Development for 20th Television after almost two years on the job. There is no immediate replacement, with Mendelovitz staying until the end of January to help with the transition.

Mendelovitz, who joined then-20th Century Fox TV from Apple TV+ in March 2020, was instrumental in bringing Ron Moore, with whom she had worked with on his Apple TV+ series For All Mankind, to 20th/Disney, where he now has three high-profile projects in the works: Swiss Family Robinson with Jon Chu directing at Disney+; Society of Explorers and Adventurers, which taps into the Disney Park IP, also at Disney+; and A Court of Thorns and Roses at Hulu, based on the popular fantasy book series by Sarah J. Maas, which Moore is co-writing.

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Other notable talent signed into overall deals during Mendelovitz’s tenure at 20th TV include Jac Schaffer, Linda Yvette Chavez and Lana Cho. Drama series greenlit under her leadership include Washington Black, executive produced by/starring Sterling K. Brown for Hulu; Tyson aka Iron Mike, executive produced by Margot Robbie, also for Hulu; and Spiderwick Chronicles, written by Aron Coliete, for Disney+.

20th Century Fox TV has undergone a major transformation since Mendelovitz joined at the start of the pandemic. In December 2020, Touchstone Television (formerly Fox21) was folded into 20th Television, which had dropped the “Century Fox” part of its name a few months earlier. The move significantly expanded Mendelovitz’s team and development slate.

During her tenure, Mendelovitz added former Searchlight and FX executive Danny Samit as VP Development, working alongside VP Jenna Dim. Two VP-level executives recently departed: Erin May, who joined Apple TV+, and Albert Page, who left the company.

As creative executive at Apple, which she joined at 2018, Mendelovitz also oversaw Servant, Severance, Defending Jacob, Invasion, the LGBTQ docuseries Visible: Out on Television and the Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry mental health documentary series.

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Before that, Mendelovitz worked at Sony as VP Scripted Programming where she oversaw such series as Bloodline for Netflix, The Good Doctor for ABC, Good Girls Revolt for Amazon, One Day at a Time for Netflix and Future Man for Hulu.

Mendelovitz began her career at CBS in 2006. There, she worked on such shows as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS: LA and The Big Bang Theory and helped develop Mom.

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