Chernin’s North Road hires Showtime & Paramount alum David Nevins as CEO

David Nevins

Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company has landed former Showtime and Paramount Global exec David Nevins as its CEO.

Nevins, who stepped down as chairman & CEO at Paramount Premium Group and Paramount+ last year, will take on the role from Chernin, who becomes exec chairman.

The former Showtime chief’s remit includes driving the LA-based company’s growth, following its launch a year ago when North Road acquired the US interests of Red Arrow Studios.

That $200m deal saw the Red Arrow assets – including Love Is Blind firm Kinetic Content, 44 Blue Productions, Dorsey Pictures, Half Yard and Left/Right – combined with Chernin Entertainment to form The North Road Company.

A UK office was opened in London led by former Red Arrow chairman Jan Frouman, while former AMC Networks exec Kristin Jones is now president of international TV.

The company, which acquired Turkish prodco Karga Seven Pictures in June, is backed by Providence Equity Partners and Apollo, which together provided access to $800m to fuel further acquisitions. It also snagged a $150m investment from The Qatar Investment Authority in February.

Nevins remit & role

Nevins will work with an exec team that includes Chernin Entertainment chief Jenno Topping, Words + Pictures founder Connor Schell, Frouman’s international unit, Chris Coelen and Darian Singer.

Chernin and Nevins, who previously worked together at Fox, will lead a company that now claims to have 85 shows in active production, ranging from Chief OF War on Apple TV+ to Rez Ball on Netflix.

The appointment comes five months since Nevins reportedly tabled a $3bn bid to buy Showtime from Paramount Global, backed by private equity firm General Atlantic. The offer was rejected.

Chernin said: “David’s arrival comes as we enter the next phase of North Road’s trajectory, following a strong first year of foundational growth via acquisitions, investments, and content wins with quality as our foremost goal.

“He joins a management team with unparalleled creative and business credentials, and David is the perfect creative leader to now bring it all together and execute on our vision for North Road.”

Nevins added that North Road claimed North Road is set to “become the leading independent provider of premium entertainment in the world. They are doing it with the highest quality across all genres, from film to TV and scripted to unscripted. I was attracted to that big, global ambition.”