Stewart Till


Sonar makes interim chief’s role permanent

US producer Sonar Entertainment has appointed interim CEO Thomas Lesinski to the chief executive role on a permanent basis. In September 2015, Lesinski (pictured) was placed in the CEO role after the exit of Gene Stein, who went on to join rival LA producer Gaumont Television. It is the latest CEO change for Sonar under […]

Sonar hires Gene Stein to replace Stewart Till

Producer and distributor Sonar Entertainment has recruited former BermanBraun president Gene Stein as its new CEO, replacing Stewart Till who has been in the role since 2012. Before joining BermanBraun in 2008, Stein worked with producer Nina Wass and based at Touchstone Television/ABC Studios for eight years. He has also written episodes of series including […]

MTV and Sonar adapting Terry Brooks’ Shannara

MTV and Sonar Entertainment will develop a TV series based on Terry Brooks’ bestselling Shannara fantasy novel series. Actor and director Jon Favreau will direct and exec produce the project with Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar on writing and exec producer duties. Terry Brooks will also exec produce if the series makes it […]

Power Play: why celebs are becoming execs

As the global media superpowers march into ever more sectors, A-list actors, musicians, fashion gurus and novelists are taking control of television projects. Jesse Whittock reports on the rise of the celebrity superproducer. In the past, the glamorous worlds of film, sport, pop music and fashion looked down their noses at TV from behind the […]

Sonar hires ex-HBO exec for LA development role

New York-based Sonar Entertainment has hired former HBO Films VP Sam Martin as executive VP, development and production. Martin will head up a new LA office, though she will also operate from Sonar’s East Coast base. She was previously responsible for overseeing production and development of original movies for premium cable channel HBO. JP Sarni, […]

Sonar Entertainment launching paid-for YouTube channel

Sonar Entertainment launching a paid-for YouTube channel, Minis + Movies. The TV movie and series producer and distributor will programme the US service with titles from its 500-title catalogue. It will include classic and contemporary miniseries and full-length two-hour TV movies. The channel launched this week and a monthly subscription costs US$1.99. A yearly sub […]

Miniseries strike back

A few years ago, it looked like scripted miniseries were heading for the scrapheap. With networks favouring TV movies, returning series and fast-moving factual entertainment franchises, miniseries started to look expensive to produce and hard to schedule. Things are very different now, reports Andy Fry.   A run of well-received projects such as Rome, Pillars […]

Tim Kring working on new sci-fi conspiracy series

Tim Kring has hooked up with Sonar Entertainment and three other production houses on a new sci-fi multiplatform pilot based around a alien invasion conspiracy. The Drake Equation will follow the story of a mid-level government agent who is forced to side with hackers and discredited scientists in order to save the world after a […]