As former The CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz gets back into the production business, he has sign on with CAA for representation, the tenpercentary announced on Thursday. Pedowitz has revived his shingle, Pine Street Entertainment, which is represented by CAA as part of the arrangement.
Pedowitz announced his departure from The CW in October, following Nexstar Media Group’s acquisition of the network from its previous joint operators CBS and Warner Bros. (Those two entities maintain minority stakes in The CW, but Nexstar is now the majority owner and operator.)
In reviving Pine Street Entertainment, Pedowitz is bringing back his independent production company that produced CBS’ “The Crazy Ones” (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams), as well as a number of development projects.
Pedowitz had joined The CW in 2011 and oversaw its programming and strategic operations for 11 years until the ownership change in 2022. While there, he brought the network to seven nights a week, struck innovative business deals (including an early, landmark output arrangement with Netflix), increased the CW’s programming volume and helped expand its inclusion and representation both in front of the camera and in the production ranks.
Series that Pedowitz championed at The CW include the “Arrowverse” DC series from Greg Berlanti like “Arrow” and “The Flash,” as well as “Riverdale,” “All American,” “Jane the Virgin” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Pedowitz spent many years at Disney/ABC before that, including a stint as president of ABC Studios (previously known as Touchstone Television) that included shepherding series like “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Ghost Whisperer.”
The exec first joined ABC (then owned by Capital Cities) in 1991 as senior VP of business affairs and contracts. By 2004 he had been named both president of Touchstone TV and exec VP of ABC Entertainment Television Group, handling day-to-day creative and business operations of Touchstone Television and overseeing all business, legal and financial affairs for ABC Primetime, Touchstone Television, and business/legal affairs for ABC Daytime.
Pedowitz began his entertainment career at MCA, Inc., as an attorney, later working at Reeves Entertainment Group/Alan Landsburg Productions, The Landsburg Company and MGM/UA Television Production Group.
Pedowitz is also represented by Abel Lezcano of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein, Lezcano, Bobb & Dang.