Peter Friedlander, a distinguished figure in the television industry, has been appointed as the new head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios. He is set to commence his role on Monday, October 6, succeeding Vernon Sanders,who departed as the TV boss earlier in September. This move marks a significant transition for Friedlander, who previously served as the head of scripted U.S. and Canadian television at Netflix, a position he left in August after an impressive nearly 14-year tenure with the streaming giant.

Friedlander's journey at Netflix began in 2011, where he started as a director on the original series team. He steadily climbed the ranks, eventually becoming a vice president and leading the scripted series division for over four years. His time at Netflix was instrumental in shaping the streamer's content landscape, overseeing the development and success of numerous early hits such as “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black.” More recently, he was also pivotal in the success of current tentpole series including “Wednesday,” “Monster,” and “Bridgerton.” His extensive resume at Netflix also includes global audience favorites like “Ozark,” “Emily in Paris,” ““The Queen’s Gambit,” “Stranger Things,” “The Night Agent,” and “3 Body Problem.”

Photo Credit: Deadline

Before his impactful career at Netflix, Friedlander gained valuable experience as an executive at Tom Hanks' and Gary Goetzman’s production company, Playtone. During his time there, he played a key role in producing the Emmy-nominated drama series “Big Love” and served as a creative executive on several feature films. His career initially began on film sets, contributing to productions like “Road To Perdition” and “Austin Powers In Goldmember.”

The announcement of Friedlander's appointment was communicated to Amazon MGM Studios staff via a memo from Mike Hopkins, who is the head of Amazon MGM Studios and Amazon Prime Video.In his memo, Hopkins expressed his excitement for Friedlander to oversee Amazon MGM Studios' original TV portfolio in the US, global tentpole titles, MGM Television, and MGM Alternative. Hopkins highlighted Friedlander’s readiness to begin on day one and encouraged staff to welcome him to the team, underscoring the significance of this hire for the studio's global television ambitions.