Showtime’s Gary Levine & Jana Winograde Named Co-Presidents Of Entertainment; Amy Israel & Vinnie Malhotra Also Upped

Gary Levine and Jana Winograde have been upped to Co-Presidents of Entertainment at Showtime Networks. The promotion stems from the recent elevation of Showtime CEO David Nevins to Showtime Chairman and CEO and Chief Creative Officer for CBS Corporation. With him taking on a larger role at CBS Corp., he was expected to hand more responsibilities to his top lieutenants at Showtime.

In turn, with Levine, along with Winograde, taking on additional duties, he will delegate some of his existing ones to the two top programming executives under him, Amy Israel and Vinnie Malhotra, who have been promoted to EVP, Scripted Programming, and EVP, Nonfiction Programming, respectively.

Levine, a 18-year Showtime veteran and a top programming/development executive, and Winograde, a respected business executive who joined the network in 2017, will continue to report to Nevins. Israel and Malhotra, who previously reported to Levine, will report to him and Winograde.

This completes the restructuring in Showtime’s top echelon following the recent CBS Corp. executive changes, which also included the hire of CBS’ Adam Townsend as Showtime CFO to replace Christina Spade, who was named CBS Corp. CFO.

In their expanded role, Levine and Winograde will supervise all aspects of Showtime comedy, drama and unscripted programming, documentaries and films. They will add oversight of production, scheduling and research to program operations, business affairs, casting and home entertainment, and will serve as liaisons to CBS Corp’s international and domestic distribution groups. Both will continue to work closely on programming-related matters with the marketing, creative, digital media, acquisitions and entertainment communications departments. Winograde will also now serve on the board of Smithsonian Networks.

“Gary and Jana are peerless in their roles. Both command great respect from their colleagues inside and outside the company, and they have been key in driving our growth,” said Nevins. “As we invest more deeply in creating world class content for our audiences, this new structure positions us strongly for the future of our business.”

Israel will now be responsible for the development and creative oversight of Showtime original scripted series — drama, comedy and limited series. Malhotra will take an expanded role in the development and production of original unscripted and documentary programming, as well as all documentary theatrical releases. He will also continue to develop and produce scripted programming based on real events and real-life newsmakers, such as the upcoming Roger Ailes limited series. Malhotra also will continue to develop and produce sports documentaries like the Emmy-winning film Disgraced, in partnership with Stephen Espinoza, President, Showtime Sports and Event Programming.

“Amy and Vinnie have both been major forces behind the exceptional scripted and nonfiction programming that have shaped what Showtime is today,” Nevins said. “Each has tremendous instincts for the creators and stories that define cutting-edge television, and the proven ability to bring them to fruition. It is exciting for me to see them take on greater roles at the network.”

Since joining Showtime as head of original programming in 2001, Levine has helped establish Showtime as a home of original premium series. The series he has shepherded include long-running hits Shameless and Dexter as well as Weeds, Californication, Nurse Jackie, The L Word, Masters of Sex, Penny Dreadful, Billions, Ray Donovan, Patrick Melrose, Who’s America? Kidding, Escape at Dannemore, The Chi, SMILF, the Twin Peaks revival, in which he played a key tole having supervised the original series at ABC, and the upcoming Black Friday and City On a Hill.

Winograde joined Showtime in 2017 as President, Business Operations, West Coast, and had oversight of financial and business strategy relating to the acquisition, development and distribution of Showtime content as well as development of new business models and content monetization domestically and internationally, working closely with CBS Corp.’s Armando Nunez. She previously spent 23 years at ABC Entertainment, most recently as EVP, Head of Business Operations.

Israel joined Showtime Networks in 2011 as SVP, Original Programming and has helped shepherd such series as Billions, SMILF, The Affair, Masters of Sex and Black Monday. Prior to Showtime, Israel served as New Regency’s EVP of Production as well as Head of Production and Acquisitions at Paramount Vantage and Co-Head of the Acquisitions and Co-Production department at Miramax Films. As a producer, Israel executive produced In Time, Shall We Dance and Hysterical Blindness.

Since joining Showtime in 2015 as SVP, Documentaries, Unscripted and Sports Programming, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Malhotra has spearheaded the development of such projects as multi-part docuseries The Fourth Estate, Shut Up and Dribble, The Trade and The Circus as well as documentaries Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars, Whitney: Can I Be Me, The Putin Interviews, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Weiner and Risk, as well as the upcoming XY Chelsea. Previously, Malhotra served as SVP for development and acquisitions at CNN Worldwide, where he oversaw the launch of CNN Films, and also handled the development and production of CNN original series, such as the Emmy-winning Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. 

Levine, Winograde, Israel and Malhotra are based in the Showtime West Coast offices in West Hollywood.

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