Quick Facts
Biography
Josh Sapan (born 1951) is an American entertainment executive. Sapan is the President and CEO of AMC Networks, a global entertainment company.
Sapan was named CEO of AMC Networks (formerly known as Rainbow Media) in 1995, and is responsible for setting strategy and overall management of the various businesses within AMC Networks, including: AMC, IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, and BBC America; AMC Studios, the company's television production business; Sundance Now and Shudder, the company's owned subscription streaming services; IFC Films, its independent film distribution business; and AMC Networks International, the company's international programming business, as well as Acorn TV, UMC (Urban Movie Channel), and Levity Live.
During his tenure, AMC Networks has produced a number of award-winning shows, including The Walking Dead, Killing Eve, Portlandia, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Sapan led AMC Networks' spin-off from Cablevision in 2011. Since becoming a public company, Sapan has presided over AMC Networks' increasing net revenues and operating income for seven consecutive years through fiscal year 2017.
Prior to AMC Networks, Sapan was president of Rainbow Media's National Entertainment Division (a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation) where he oversaw AMC and Bravo.
Life and education
Sapan was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York. His father worked in advertising, and his mother was an Off Off Broadway actress. Sapan was raised in Brooklyn and attended P.S. 187. Sapan studied radio, television and film at the University of Wisconsin. He left school in 1970 moving to Boulder Colorado and Berkeley California.
When he returned to college he worked for a company that “four walled” films, taking 35 mm prints of wilderness films to small towns in Wisconsin which had been rented by the film company. During this time while waiting for the movies to play he collected a substantial number of classic film posters that were largely disregarded by the theatre in Wisconsin. He began acting with the Broom Street Theatre in plays such as Bertol Brechts “The Exception and the Rule”, and in what may have been the first staging of the rock opera Tommy. He performed at Broom Street opposite Andre De Shields who would later go on to star in The Wiz on Broadway.
At UW Madison, he led two film societies: The New Utrecht film society and Thor Film Society, New Utrecht showed foreign and art films such as Woman in the Dunes and The Bicycle Thief, and Thor showed mainstream movies and college oriented fare, finding particular success with Reefer Madness.
The film society experience lead him to drop out of Wisconsin for a second time, purchasing two16 mm projectors and establishing a mobile movie exhibition business in the Midwest, operating out of Athens Ohio, known as The Court Street Theatre.
He did eventually graduate Wisconsin in 1975 via correspondence courses.
Returning to New York City he looked unsuccessfully for a job in television for a couple of years working various jobs including one as a labor union organizer for local 1114 in the nursing home and hospital industry, which was later subsumed into local 1199. He successfully organized The King James nursing home for that union.
During this time he read a book about the embryonic cable TV industry titled “The Wired Nation “which predicted the proliferation of cable TV content,” and began to volunteer at UA Columbia Cablevision in Wayne & Pompton lakes New Jersey.
Sapan then sold a series of shows to the UA Columbia, producing and hosting a show called Student Film Review in which he interviewed and showed the short films of area filmmakers.
Career
Sapan began his career in cable television at Tele-PrompTer Manhattan Cable TV, which later became Time Warner Cable.
He later joined the premium pay-TV service Showtime, where he led marketing, creative services and on-air programming promotion.
In 1987, Sapan joined the National Entertainment Division of Rainbow Media, a programming subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation, as president of AMC and Bravo, where he spearheaded the development of the Bravo network. Sapan's oversight of Bravo included the creation of notable and culturally impactful programs including “Inside the Actors Studio” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
He was named CEO of Rainbow Media in 1995.
In 2002, Sapan was instrumental in the sale of Bravo to NBC for $1.25 billion in stock and cash.
In 2005, Sapan opened New York City's IFC Center, the brick-and-mortar home for the brand and home to DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the United States.
In 2008, Sapan led the company's acquisition of Sundance Channel from General Electric Company's NBC Universal, CBS Corporation's Showtime Networks, and entities controlled by Robert Redford. In June 2011, Sapan led the company's spin-off from Cablevision Systems Corporation, and AMC Networks began trading as a separate public company on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Sapan expanded AMC Networks' footprint through the February 2014 acquisition of Liberty Global's international channels portfolio that led to AMC Networks being available in more than 140 countries as of 2017.
During Sapan's AMC tenure, AMC drama's set television records: In 2013, Breaking Bad had the third most watched series finale in cable history and in 2014, with 17.3 million viewers, the Walking Dead's season five premiere was the highest rated show in cable television history.
He also led the company's October 2014 partnership agreement with BBC Worldwide to acquire a 49.9% stake in the BBC AMERICA cable channel, giving AMC Networks operational control of the channel, and to jointly pursue content investment opportunities.
Sapan and AMC Networks funded Boyhood, a critically acclaimed movie that garnered six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and for Best Original Screenplay. During Sapan's time as CEO of IFC Films parent AMC Networks, IFC had significant success with day-and-date movie releases.
Recently, Sapan led the acquisitions of RLJ Entertainment in July 2018 and Levity Live in April 2018. In addition, in April 2018, he led AMC Networks to join 21st Century Fox and Sky Plc in a $75 million funding round for sports TV service FuboTV.
Writing
Sapan is the author of The Big Picture: America in Panorama (Princeton Architectural Press), a collection of panoramic photos from the 20th century.
He is also a published poet.
Affiliations
Sapan serves on numerous boards, including The Paley Center for Media, The Internet & Television Association (NCTA), Museum of the Moving Image, People for the American Way, WNYC Radio, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Executive Committee.
Awards
- Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business
- Cable Hall of Fame, 2013
- Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, 2008
- National Cable & Telecommunications Association Vanguard Award for Programmers, 2010
- National Cable & Telecommunications Association Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership, 2015
- CTAM's Grand TAM Award and Chairman's Award, 2005
- Association of Cable Communicators'(ACC) President's Award, 1997
- PROMAX Brand Builder Award, 2004
- T. Howard Foundation's Executive Leadership Award, 2009
- Paley Prize for Innovation and Excellence, 2012
- Vanity Fair: New Establishment Issue
- Vanity Fair: The Impresarios of Cable's Golden Age, 2013
- Multichannel News Executive of the Year, 2013
- NATPE's Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, 2016
- Media Institute's Freedom of Speech Award