Exclusive: Amazon’s IMDb TV hires Fremantle, A+E alum for acquisitions

Samuel Harowitz

Amazon-owned streamer IMDb TV has hired former Fremantle and A+E Networks exec Samuel Harowitz to work across the AVOD service’s fast-growing acquisitions activity, TBI has learned.

Harowitz becomes senior content acquisition manager at the increasingly acquisitive US-based streaming service and is based out of the firm’s Culver City offices in California.

He was most recently VP of digital content licensing at A+E Networks, where he worked on deals involving both AVOD and SVOD streamers, as well as co-production pacts and co-financing agreements.

Prior to that, Harowitz worked for Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky’s prodco Is or Isn’t Entertainment as SVP of development & production, and before that he was VP of acquisitions & co-productions for Fremantle in North America.

During a six-year stint at the company, he developed, acquired and packaged projects across scripted, as well as forging co-pros.

Alex Rider

IMDb TV’s Prime factor

His arrival at IMDb TV – confirmed by Amazon – will see Harowitz work under the Amazon Studios umbrella, which now houses the streamer’s content team.

The service was launched in 2019 and has since been steadily expanding, moving into originals during the middle of last year and more recently acquiring premium drama.

Earlier this year the ad-supported service picked up Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) self-commissioned coming-of-age spy thriller Alex Rider for its service in the US. The same agreement saw Amazon acquire the drama for its Prime Video service in Germany, Austria and Latin America, following a similar deal struck in the UK in May.

IMDb TV, which is free to use in the US but sits alongside Amazon’s SVOD Prime Video and Twitch services, also recently ramped up its offer with shows including Schitt’s Creek, Lost, Revenge and Desperate Housewives.

It has also added Lionsgate’s hit drama Mad Men on exclusive streaming terms in the US and, again, as part of a wider global deal involving Amazon Prime Video outside of the States.