Former Showtime architect and Paramount TV chief David Nevins will join media mogul Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company as CEO, nine months after he announced his departure from Paramount.
Nevins will oversee North Road’s assets, including scripted film and TV studio Chernin Entertainment, unscripted house Kinetic Content, nonfiction studio Words + Pictures, and a London-based international division.
Chernin will continue to serve as executive chairman.
The North Road launched in July 2022 with a combined $800 million in financing and had an ambitious first-year business plan, purchasing the production assets of Red Arrow Studios (including shows like Love Island) and Karga Seven Pictures, as well as stake in Peyton Manning’s sports firm Omaha Productions.
In January, the company received $150 million in funding from Qatar Investment Authority, adding to the $500 million secured from Providence Equity Partners and $300 million in debt financing from Apollo.
Nevins’ arrival at North Road comes as major media companies are tightening margins after years of heavy investment into creating competitive streaming services and stocking them with content. However, these conglomerates must continue to produce content to maintain relevance and to have something to release in movie theaters that are now recovering from pandemic closures.
North Road is just one of the many entertainment companies looking to supply studios with content, but may have an advantage with Nevins at its head.
“I first reached out to David the day he resigned from Paramount because I’ve always admired David,” Chernin said in an interview with Variety. “The most important thing to us in building a company was putting together a group of the highest quality assets in the industry, capable of producing the highest quality content.”
“There’s going to be an opportunity for well-funded private companies to be important suppliers and be really strong partners,” said Nevins in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The big platforms need the product, and they need people who know how to deliver the product.”
Nevins served as the chief of Paramount Premium Group and Paramount Plus scripted series, and also oversaw BET and Paramount Television Studios. He expanded that role significantly while at Paramount Global, landing 244 primetime Emmy nominations for the network and producing series like Yellowjackets, Shameless, Twin Peaks and other shows.
Nevins even offered to buy Showtime, but was reportedly turned down.
Prior to his work at Showtime, Nevins was president of Imagine Television, producing shows including Arrested Development, and Friday Night Lights. He also led CBS Entertainment before the consolidation of Viacom and CBS.
