Amazon has hired former Sony TV and Hulu executive Mike Hopkins to oversee Amazon Studios and Amazon Prime Video, reporting directly to company CEO Jeff Bezos.
Hopkins, who is departing a leading role at Sony Pictures TV that he occupied since late 2017, will replace Jeffrey Blackburn, Amazon’s senior VP of business development and digital entertainment, who is going on sabbatical.
Jen Salke, who currently heads Amazon Studios, will report to Hopkins, as she did Blackburn.
“Mike comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience at Fox, Hulu, and Sony,” Blackburn said in an email to his Amazon staff, obtained the Los Angeles Times. “He has an extensive track record as a global business leader in media, film and TV — negotiating landmark content and distribution agreements, running marketing operations, leading product/tech teams, and overseeing production of breakthrough television content.”
Tony Vinciquerra, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, sent a note to staff Monday morning, thanking Hopkins for his work at the studio. “From day one he was charged with rethinking the way we run our television businesses,” the memo said “Under his watch, SPT has been transformed into a stronger and more nimble organization, able to pivot and change course quickly in today’s rapidly evolving entertainment landscape.”
It’s expected that Salke will continue to make inroads into the Hollywood production business through Amazon Studios’s Culver City, Calif. headquarters. It’s also expected that Blackburn will return to work at the company, but in a different capacity.
