20th Television’s head of drama development, Michelle Mendelovitz, is stepping down from her role at the studio, Variety has learned.
News of her departure comes a little less than two years after Mendelovitz first joined 20th TV. She joined the studio from the streaming division of Apple, where she worked as a creative executive. She will remain in her current role until the end of January. No new head of drama development has yet been named.
During her time with 20th, Mendelovitz oversaw greenlights for series such as “Washington Black” starring Sterling K. Brown and the Mike Tyson biographical series “Tyson” (fka “Iron Mike”) at Hulu as well as the “Spiderwick Chronicles” series at Disney Plus.
She also helped secure overall deals with creators like Lana Cho, Jac Schaffer, and Linda Yvette Chavez. Mendelovitz was also involved in bringing Ron Moore to the Disney fold. Moore has already set up multiple high-profile series at the Mouse House: a “Swiss Family Robinson” series with Jon Chu and the “Society of Explorers and Adventurers” series at Disney Plus, as well as the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series at Hulu, which Moore is co-writing with Sarah J. Maas.
At Apple, Mendelovitz developed scripted and documentary series for Apple TV Plus beginning in 2018, overseeing “For All Mankind,” “Servant,” “Visible: Out on Television,” “Severance,” “Defending Jacob,” and “Invasion,” as well as Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s mental health documentary.
Prior to that, she worked as vice president of scripted programming at Sony, overseeing series including “Bloodline,” “The Good Doctor,” “Good Girls Revolt,” “One Day at a Time,” and “Future Man.” She began her career at CBS, with her last position at that company being manager of comedy development.