Beatrice Springborn’s Bet: A ‘Flexible Model’ to Win Talent, Outsmart Streamers & Go Global
SCOOP: Universal Content Productions’ chief reveals projects with Yara Shahidi, the Obamas, Sam Esmail, Matt Charman — and the state of Seth MacFarlane’s overall
I cover TV from L.A. I wrote about the mood at Warner Bros. Discovery as insiders anticipate a sale, how a combined Paramount-Warners could challenge Netflix and the 10 showrunners who define the TV market now. Email me at lesley.goldberg@theankler.com
As the president of Universal Content Productions and Universal International Studios, Beatrice Springborn has one foot in the domestic side of the television business and the other in its international waters. It’s a fitting role for an executive who grew up across 12 cities as the daughter of a professor and printer. After the internet crushed her dreams of becoming a newspaper journalist, Springborn “lucked out” and landed a job working in development as Pixar Animation Studios was looking to hire an exec who did not have the traditional Hollywood background.
After roles at FilmNation, Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment and Caryn Mandabach Productions, Springborn, as head of originals at Hulu from 2014-2020, bought and developed The Handmaid’s Tale, which went on to be the first streaming show to win the Primetime Emmy drama prize. Following a six-year run at the now Disney-controlled streamer, Springborn in late 2020 shifted from buyer to seller when she replaced Dawn Olmstead as head of NBCUniversal’s cable- and streaming-focused studio, UCP.
Two years later, she added oversight of the international studio to her purview as she looks for new ways to finance scripted originals that can speak to both domestic and global audiences. The 50-year-old executive, born in Ohio, oversees a combined team of more than 100 staffers and rich showrunner and producer deals with voices as varied as Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy), Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Nick Antosca (Cape Fear, Murdaugh: Death in the Family) and Sue Naegle (The Five-Star Weekend, The Day of the Jackal), to name a few.
Reporting directly to Universal Studio Group chief Pearlena Igbokwe, Springborn is known for her taste (see Hulu’s Handmaid’s, Normal People, Ramy, The Great and PEN15), heart and dedication. “She is somebody who really inspires enthusiasm and the desire to go the extra mile,” MacFarlane has said of his relationship with the studio chief.
With Sarah Snook kidnapping thriller All Her Fault launching tomorrow, Springborn’s slate is inching toward 20 shows across both studios. What’s more, the executive sees rays of light in the murky scripted waters after bidding wars for the UCP-produced Sterling K. Brown and Da’Vine Joy Randolph vehicle The Trees and, as The Ankler can exclusively report, UCP’s adaptation of Brit Bennett’s best-seller, The Mothers — which has Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) attached to star and is produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground. More scoop: Springborn’s international studio is also prepping Wilder, a drama about a CIA agent who is returned home years after being presumed dead, from the Oscar-nominated Bridge of Spies scribe Matt Charman.
Other previously unannounced projects nearing the finish line are a new TV take on David Cronenberg’s 1983 cult favorite, Videodrome (being written by Esmail and Mr. Robot alum Kyle Bradstreet), and an original animated series from MacFarlane — whose adaptation of Matt Dinniman’s best-selling sci-fi novel Dungeon Crawler Carl is close to finding its home.
At the same time, Springborn is also working with Universal TV-based showrunners Tina Fey (30 Rock) and Mike Schur (The Good Place) to bring to fruition their interest in making originals for international audiences.
“As a buyer, we have a robust business. We have Universal Pictures with Donna Langley across everything. We have a distribution network, which a lot of these independents don’t have,” Springborn tells me of the advantages of being at NBCU vs. competitors who “[aren’t] doing international sales; they don’t have the strong and robust network we have there. So as far as the competitive advantage about what we have to offer internally, we are positioned well.”
From my conversation with Springborn, lightly edited for length and clarity, paid subscribers can learn:
How Universal’s global model gives it a value edge over Netflix — and why international is NBCU’s next growth engine
The unexpected challenge of managing Hollywood’s biggest overall deals
The surprising deal point top writer-creators are prioritizing now (and why it’s not money)
The unique packaging strategies behind The Rachel Incident and All Her Fault
Why Springborn ignores buyers’ “mandate menus” — and how she zeroes in on the right exec to champion each pitch
Her top advice to writers navigating a post-strike market — and how UCP is bringing new voices into the fold
What to expect when Taylor Sheridan’s megadeal begins at NBCU
The latest intel on Battlestar Galactica, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and other buzzy projects in Springborn’s slate
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