Xbox Entertainment Studios


Tellem takes seat at Interlude

Former Xbox Entertainment Studios president Nancy Tellem has resurfaced as executive chairman of LA-based media tech company Interlude. The former CBS Entertainment chief left Xbox last year after the decision to axe its original programming division as part of wide-spread cuts at the game console manufacturer’s parent, software giant Microsoft. At five-year-old Interlude, which creates […]

Nintendo scraps European TV plans

Nintendo has cancelled plans to launch its Nintendo TVii service in Europe, citing unexpected challenges in localising the offering for different markets. Announcing its decision, Nintendo said it will continue to develop “a range of entertaining experiences for all to enjoy”, but admitted it “did not anticipate such challenges” when it came to the rollout […]

Tellem and Levin exit as Xbox studio winds down

Nancy Tellem and Jordan Levin have left Xbox Entertainment Studios, the content division launched, and subsequently scrapped, by software giant Microsoft. Microsoft said the Xbox Studios unit was closing in July as part of deep job cuts at the US-listed company. At that time Studios president Tellem and executive VP, Levin, were tipped to stay […]

AMC to replace Xbox on Channel 4 drama Humans

US cable channel AMC is boarding Humans, the Xbox drama that Channel 4 will air in the UK. According to US reports, AMC is final stage negotiations to join the coproduction and take US rights. The sci-fi is an eight-part drama that Channel4 and Xbox jointly commissioned in April as a remake of a Swedish […]

Xbox Entertainment Studios to close as 18,000 jobs go

Microsoft’s original video division Xbox Entertainment Studios is to close as part of an 18,000-job cull at the technology firm – but boss Nancy Tellem is set to remain in her role. Former CBS entertainment chief Tellem, who runs XES as president, and executive VP Jordan Levin will “stay on and remain committed to original […]

Ex-WB Network boss Jordan Levin joins Xbox studio

Former WB Network boss and Generate CEO Jordan Levin has joined Nancy Tellem at Xbox Entertainment Studios. Levin has become executive VP and will be responsible for developing and producing original scripted and unscripted content, reporting to former CBS Entertainment boss Tellem, who is president of the Microsoft-owned studio. Levin was most recently president of […]

Man on Wire’s Chinn opens Lightbox with cousin

Documentary producer Simon Chinn has hooked up with his cousin to create a multiplatform production company, which has bagged a commission from the Xbox platform. The producer behind Academy Award-winning docs Man on Wire and Searching for Sugar Man (below right) and his cousin Jonathan Chinn (left), a US non-scripted television showrunner, are the co-founders […]

Nancy Tellem: Lighting up the Xbox

Nancy Tellem is entertainment and digital media president at technology, software and hardware giant Microsoft where she runs the fledgling Xbox Entertainment Studios production unit. For more than a decade before that Tellem had been squarely in traditional media, in the US broadcast sector, where she was president of CBS Network Television Entertainment. “I’m looking […]

Amazon, Xbox cool on Netflix’s binge model

The executives running the content arms of Amazon and Xbox have separately told TBI they have serious reservations about the Netflix model of releasing all episodes of an original series at once. Amazon Studios is about to release a slew of originals for its Amazon Instant Prime service in the US following a fruitful wave […]

Spielberg making Halo series for Microsoft’s new Xbox One

Steven Spielberg will produce a new series based on the Halo games franchise for Xbox One, the next-generation console and entertainment system from Microsoft. Microsoft launched the Xbox One yesterday and unveiled a range of other TV series and video content Spielberg will executive produce the live-action Halo series, which will be made by Microsoft’s […]