The North Road Company hires Netflix, HBO alum to head business affairs

The Last Dance

Peter Chernin’s The North Road Company has landed a former Netflix exec as its head of business affairs.

Rochelle Gerson will oversee all content deals for the company, which has been expanding rapidly since acquiring Red Arrow Studios’ US assets in 2022.

It also owns Words + Pictures, the prodco behind Netflix’s The Last Dance, and dipped into its pocket in November to acquire Little Room Films, launched by the docuseries’ director Jason Hehir in 2021.

Gerson reports into former Showtime boss David Nevins, who was named CEO last year, and joins following a five-year stint at Netflix where she was VP of original series.

Gerson had previously been SVP of business affairs at HBO and also held roles at Disney and NBC.

Nevins said: “Rochelle is a major addition to what was already a top leadership group.

“Bringing a wealth of expertise brokering innovative deals for major content companies, we know she will be an incredible asset to North Road as we continue to extend our leadership as an independent producer in key markets worldwide.”

Chernin 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 last year.

It also owns Turkish prodco Karga Seven Pictures and claims to have over 85 active productions across the group.