Robin Schwartz joins Story Syndicate as scripted TV chief

Robin Schwartz has joined Story Syndicate as head of scripted, putting the veteran television executive in charge of the company’s scripted development and production, Deadline reported.

Story Syndicate is the film and television company founded by Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan. According to Deadline, Schwartz will report to Garbus and Cogan and will work from Los Angeles.

The move comes as Story Syndicate has renewed its first-look television deal with Tomorrow Studios, the ITV Studios-backed company led by founder and CEO Marty Adelstein and partner and president Becky Clements, Deadline reported.

Who is Robin Schwartz at Story Syndicate?

Schwartz is taking over leadership of Story Syndicate’s scripted operation. Deadline reported that she succeeds Nellie Reed, who recently left to start Short Stack Productions with an overall deal at A24.

Schwartz will oversee a team that includes scripted development and production executive Carolyn Daucher, according to Deadline. Her new role puts her at the center of Story Syndicate’s push beyond the nonfiction work for which the company is widely known.

Story Syndicate’s first-look deal means Tomorrow Studios gets an early chance to work with the company on television projects. Deadline reported that the partnership has already produced several scripted sales and development projects.

What projects are in the Story Syndicate and Tomorrow Studios pipeline?

Under the Tomorrow Studios deal, Story Syndicate landed a Netflix straight-to-series order in December for So Far Gone, from writer Mark Bomback, after a bidding war, Deadline reported.

The companies also have a Claus von Bülow limited series in development at Apple TV, with Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne writing, according to Deadline. Another project is a police procedural inspired by Geraldine Hart, from writers Eileen Myers and Jerome Hairston, in development at HBO Max.

In a statement reported by Deadline, Schwartz said she was “elated” to join Garbus and Cogan and help expand Story Syndicate’s scripted business. She also pointed to a reunion with Adelstein and Clements at Tomorrow Studios.

Cogan and Garbus said in a statement reported by Deadline that Schwartz brings leadership experience, writer relationships and “exquisite taste,” adding that she will guide current projects and help build a new slate.

What has Robin Schwartz worked on before?

Schwartz was most recently president of television at FilmNation, Deadline reported. She previously led television divisions at Regency and Big Beach.

She also ran her own banner, Working Bird, under a producing deal at Tomorrow Studios, with Daucher serving as head of development, according to Deadline.

With Tomorrow Studios, Schwartz has Funny You Should Ask, starring Regé-Jean Page, in the works at Apple TV, Deadline reported. Working Bird’s development slate also includes limited series projects based on Joan Didion’s The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Her executive producer credits include Prime Video’s What the Constitution Means to Me, Apple TV’s animated comedy Central Park, Tanya Saracho’s Starz series Vida, and Facebook Watch’s Elizabeth Olsen drama Sorry for Your Loss, according to Deadline.

Deadline also reported that Schwartz oversaw the first Spanish-language television adaptation of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits for Amazon LATAM, as well as Sky’s Small Town Big Story.

What else is Story Syndicate making?

Story Syndicate’s recent documentary projects include Netflix’s Maternal Instinct and Prime Video’s One Night In Idaho, which has been picked up for a second installment, Deadline reported.

The company’s nonfiction slate also includes Season 2 of Roku’s Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross and Billie Jean King’s Give Me the Ball!, which Deadline reported is set for release on ESPN later this year.

This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.