News & Press

After months of speculation, Brent Montgomery has been formally named CEO of ITV America.

With the announcement comes news of new names — ITV Studios US Group becomes ITV America, for instance — and a series of sizable promotions out of Montgomery’s Leftfield Entertainment group. In his new role, the Leftfield founder/CEO and a regular on the The Hollywood Reporter’s reality power list will now oversee ITV’s group of domestic businesses, the largest independent producer of non-scripted content in the U.S.

As part of the restructuring, Montgomery’s purview will consist not only of the Leftfield production shingles — Leftfield Pictures, Sirens Media, Outpost Entertainment, Loud TV and Riot Creative — but also ITV’s U.S. production entities Thinkfactory Media, High Noon Entertainment, DiGa and Duck Dynasty’s Gurney Productions. (The companies will continue under their individual banners with their existing management teams in place.) Also moving under Montgomery’s umbrella: ITV Studios America, which is being rebranded ITV Entertainment.

To be sure, Leftfield, which is behind such hits as Pawn Stars, Counting Cars and Real Housewives of New Jersey, is already part of ITV’s expansive stable of production companies after selling an 80 percent stake to the U.K. company for $360 million in spring 2014. New York-based Montgomery will now be working closely with Philippe Maigret, who was named ITV America’s president of scripted programming in July. Maigret’s appointment came just weeks after the unexpected departure of president Orly Adelson after only a year and a half in the role — and roughly a year after former chief Paul Buccieri left for a top A+E Networks gig.

In the restructuring, Montgomery has promoted many of his key lieutenants. Among them: Adam Sher will become chief creative officer at ITV America, with Chris Valentini and David George rising to ITV America COO and Leftfield Entertainment CEO, respectively. A head of the rebranded Los Angeles-based ITV Entertainment will be named shortly, with Sher overseeing the current business. Both Maigret and Montgomery will report to ITV Studios managing director Kevin Lygo.

“Bringing all our U.S. production businesses together, ITV America will build on this success as we take our U.S. operations to the next level and continue to build a global content business of scale,” noted Lygo, adding of his choice of Montgomery: “Brent’s creative expertise and management prowess ultimately built Leftfield into a producing powerhouse now known for creating programming across nearly every genre of unscripted television. In the current marketplace, it’s essential that we monetize creative across all platforms and territories, while servicing buyers and markets with content that delivers for their respective brands and audiences. We also must employ the flexibility to navigate emerging distribution opportunities, while remaining willing to take creative risks. We are confident that under Brent’s leadership, ITV America will meet these challenges, broadening even further into exciting new arenas of media and entertainment.”

Added Montgomery, “I’m humbled and beyond excited to join ITV at a time in our business when the integration of creativity, diversity, innovation and fiscal responsibility has never been more critical. I consider my greatest accomplishment at Leftfield to have amassed a team of some of the most talented producers and executives in our business, who worked with dedication and collaboration in an environment that allowed creatives to do what they do best: work with laser focus on development and building talent. That’s what has grown our partnerships with buyers across all company disciplines. I look forward to delivering on that strategy for ITV, and to expanding the company’s footprint as we broach the next chapter together.”