20th Television Ups Erin May To VP Drama Development

Denise Petski
·2 min read

20th Television has promoted Erin May to Vice President, Drama Development. In her expanded role, May will be responsible for identifying and developing talent, and helping to shepherd projects from pitch to series order for all platforms including broadcast, streaming and cable. She will report to Michelle Mendelovitz, SVP of Drama Development.

“Erin’s passion for impactful storytelling, her stellar creative instincts and genuinely rich relationships within the talent community have made her a remarkably brilliant standout within our company. This promotion not only recognizes her already considerable achievements but anticipates her taking on an even greater role in our drama development as we delve into expanding our creative ambitions within this larger Disney realm,” said Mendelovitz. “She’s a fantastic executive who has more than earned this recognition and Carolyn, Jen and I are grateful to have her on our team.”

May joined 20th Television’s drama development team five years ago, beginning as a manager. She cites the goal of creating a safe space for writers to tell stories that are provocative and underrepresented in television as a guiding principle, from Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Shots Fired on Fox, the first project she worked on at 20th, to Dopesick, Danny Strong’s upcoming limited series on Hulu, which tackles the opioid epidemic. Additional upcoming projects she has helped develop include Tate Taylor’s Filthy Rich starring Kim Cattrall and Manny Coto’s Next starring John Slatter, both premiering on Fox this fall, as well as Selwyn Hinds’ Washington Black for Hulu, medical drama Triage for ABC and Karin Gist’s Our Kind of People for Fox. May has worked with writers and directors including Steven Canals, Lee Daniels, Ronald D. Moore, Karin Gist, Amanda Lasher, Anthony Hemingway, Kay Oyegun and KJ Steinberg.

May graduated from Harvard University, and began her career as an assistant at CAA in The Foundation, followed by Anonymous Content, working for a talent and literary manager. She interned for producers Dan Lin and John Davis while obtaining her MBA from Harvard Business School. After business school, May worked as an assistant to Peter Rice at what was then Fox Networks Group, before joining 20th Television.

More from Deadline

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.