Melinda Benedek, executive VP of business affairs and production at Showtime, will retire after 22 years with the company. Benedek will remain at Showtime through the end of the year.
Benedek is responsible for negotiating and managing the business and legal aspects of the development and physical production of all Showtime original productions and licensed original programming.
“Melinda has touched so much of what we do at Showtime for so long, it’s difficult to imagine our team without her,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks, to whom she reports. “I have long valued her sharp mind, her integrity and her cool under pressure. We applaud her decision to begin this exciting next chapter of her life. As sad as we are to see her go, we are thrilled for her personally.”
Prior to joining Showtime in 1995, Benedek spent four years as head of business affairs of the feature film division of Twentieth Century Fox. Before that, she was executive VP of Imagine Entertainment, which she had joined at its inception, under the leadership of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
“I have loved being a part of Showtime’s evolution and growth over the last 22 years–my title has been the same, but my job continuously changed as we developed and executed different programming strategies for the network,” said Benedek. “However, the time has come to explore some of the other lives I have wanted to live, and relocate for part of each year to Europe where I grew up.”
