When there’s a big job to do, people call on Sharon Levy, CEO of Endemol Shine North America.
In January, Endemol’s parent company, Banijay, restructured and Levy was Banijay CEO Ben Samek’s first choice to run Endemol.
As Endemol’s chief creative officer, Levy had already been running the shows, Samek said. “That’s the lifeblood of the company,” he said. “You look at many creative executives and it’s just about the shows. There’s a balance of commerce and creativity that has to be reached to keep a company thriving. And that’s one of Sharon’s great attributes is looking at shows to be both.”
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Years ago, in a similar vein, when programming executive Doug Herzog returned to Viacom to run Spike, a cable network for men, the first person he hired was Levy to oversee original programming. “She’s incredibly dynamic, she’s got a great attitude,” Herzog said, noting that some of the shows she launched are still running on what is now Paramount Network, like Ink Master and Bar Rescue. “She’s super fun to work with and she’s got great taste.”
The first pitch Corrie Henson took after becoming executive VP of entertainment unscripted content at NBCUniversal was from Levy. When Henson was with WarnerMedia, she had bought the series Hot Wheels from Levy. That fell through when WarnerMedia was acquired by Discovery and cleaned house. Levy improved the series, giving it more heart, and Henson bought it again. Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge launched on NBC and Peacock on May 30.
“She’s a problem-solver. She’s a big-picture thinker. She is able to keep her hands in all of the details without getting too in the weeds, the ultimate in quality control,” Henson said. “When I’m talking to Sharon I feel like I’m the only person in the room, but I always know that she has a million balls in the air. I always look forward to Sharon. She’s not a sister, but a really close, fun cousin I look forward to seeing at the holidays.”
There’s a great personal connection that comes when you invite people into your home and cook for them. I think it says, ‘Thanks for all you’ve done.’ ”
— Sharon Levy
Levy got her start in the business as a publicist at Comedy Central, which was the first of three times she worked for Herzog. She was considering starting her own PR agency representing talent from the network when she had a meeting with David Stanley and Scott Stone of Stone Stanley, who she’d met on the set of The Man Show.
At first they asked if she was interested in running marketing for the production company. Then they mentioned an open job they had in development.
“I didn’t really even know what that meant,” Levy said. “They really took a shot with me and it really changed my career.”
Now as a CEO of a production company, Levy says the focus is on the shows. “It almost sounds folksy, but I do believe that in order to grow a business the creative has to be great,” she said. “The plan right now is to create, ideate, adapt the best content we can. And then make a concerted sales effort to all of our networks and platforms so they keep buying from us.”
Driven by Relationships
At the same time, people matter. “This business is about relationships, it really doesn’t matter what title you have. You are not in the business of building and nurturing and keeping and growing all those relationships from talent. I consider anyone who works with me talent,” she said.
Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming at Fox Entertainment, gives Levy props for convincing Will Arnett, the host of Fox’s Lego Masters, which Endemol produces, to stick with the show when production moved from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
“She is fearless. She is thoughtful. She’s a force of nature,” said Wallach, who counts Levy as a friend.
Levy’s touch is evident when she hosts business meals at her home instead of at a restaurant.
“There’s a great personal connection that comes when you invite people into your home and cook for them,” Levy said. “I think it says, ‘Thanks for all you’ve done.’ ”
Levy not only hosts but cooks. Her go-to dish is a carrot souffle from Martha Stewart’s Thanksgiving cookbook.
Cooking isn’t Levy’s only skill. She’s an amateur floral arranger, and during the pandemic, she started making paper flowers that look like real ones. She scours antique markets, looking for items she can take apart to make jewelry.
Levy also packed a punch. Until recently, she worked out at CMC Boxing. She didn’t just hit the speed bag. “I sparred with the best of them. I sparred with mostly men,” she said. “And took a bunch of them down.” A southpaw, she specialized in body shots.
Now, she’s a big hiker and Pelotoner. “My Golden Gloves days are way behind me.”
