EXCLUSIVE: Suzanne Makkos Leaves Post as Head of Original Comedy and Animation at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and Adult Swim to join Disney as head of comedy for ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals.
In her new role, she will oversee comedy development and programming for Disney Entertainment Television’s current series on ABC and Hulu, including live-action comedies, adult animation and stand-up specials. .
Makkos joins his counterpart Jordan Helman, Head of Drama, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals, both reporting to Simran Sethi, President of Scripted Programming, Hulu Originals, ABC Entertainment and Freeform.
The ABC/Hulu dual lead on dramatic and comedic roles premiered in early October when writing teams ABC and Hulu Originals were combined under Sethi.
Makkos had been rumored to be going to Disney since August, initially to replace Billy Rosenberg, who resigned as head of comedy at Hulu in May.
Speculation intensified after the Oct. 1 restructuring, which saw Erin Wehrenberg leave her position as ABC’s head of comedy and a combined Hulu/ABC head of comedy position become available. After serving as head of comedy at a streamer, Max, and a broadcast network, Fox, Makkos emerged as the frontrunner during the final stages of the executive search process in December.
With the top comedy job at Hulu vacant for eight months and the top comedy job at ABC for three and a half months, Makkos has her work cut out for her when she starts next week. The first order of business will likely be to look at ABC’s comedy development to order a few pilots for 2025-2026.
“There are few leaders with the breadth and depth of experience that Suzanna brings,” Sethi said. “She is a skilled creative partner with tremendous experience developing hit, brand-defining and culturally impactful comedies in both broadcast and streaming. We are delighted to welcome him to our creative team.
Makkos was one of the first heads of programming hired at Max in 2019before the platform launched the following year under the name HBO Max. She added adult swim monitoring in 2021 when the adult animation development teams of Adult Swim and Max were combined.
Its role has changed in Restructuring 2022which consolidated HBO and Max’s operations, including comedy programming under the leadership of Amy Gravitt, HBO’s longtime head of comedy. The realignment was accompanied by significant layoffs, but Makkos, who is highly regarded internally – and externally – was kept in the fold, reporting to Gravitt on Max’s side. Still, the new leadership structure was somewhat disjointed, leading to Makkos’ amicable departure for a more senior position at Disney.
Gravitt’s team will take over oversight of Makkos’ Max roster. The adult animation programming and development team will report to Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and TCM.
During his tenure, Makkos created the Max comedy slate, developing series such as Emmy Winner Hacks, Mindy Kaling The sex lives of female students as well as the Sex and the city awakening And just like that… Additionally, she has performed stand-up specials with Chelsea manager: evolution And Marlon Wayans: You know how it is and created the adult animation brand Max’s with The prince and DC’s recent entry Creature Commandos as well as adult swimming Smiling friends and the next Common side effects.
Before joining Max, Makkos spent 13 years at Fox Broadcasting, working his way up to executive vice president of programming and comedy development. She developed Bob’s Burgers and led the relaunch of The family guy, in addition to New Girl, The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, among others.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to join Disney Entertainment Television, where Craig Erwich, Simran and their teams are driving excellence in television,” said Makkos. “I look forward to collaborating with this talented group of leaders and the dynamic set of creative voices behind these beloved brands.” »