Former Netflix Exec Jane Wiseman Joins Sister As Head Of U.S. Television, Reuniting With Cindy Holland

Nellie Andreeva
·2 min read
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Former Netflix Head of Comedy Jane Wiseman is joining Jane Featherstone and Liz Murdoch‘s Sister entertainment group in a newly created position as Head of U.S. Television. Based in Los Angeles, Wiseman will report to Cindy Holland, Sister’s Global CEO, and will lead the company’s U.S. television business, specifically focused on development and production of premium scripted series.

This is the second senior member of Holland’s executive team at Netflix, where she led original TV content for many years, that she has brought to Sister since joining the company in July. In October, Efrain Miron was named to another newly created position as President, Strategy and Business Affairs, with a focus on the U.S. studio and portfolio companies.

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Building out Sister’s U.S. operation under Holland has been a major priority as the company is plotting further expansion and a path to profitability. The indie last year opened a New York office to add to its Los Angeles hub.

Veteran comedy executive Wiseman joined Holland’s Netflix original programming team in December 2013 as the first development executive from a network/studio background at the streamer. During her seven-year tenure as VP Original Series, she oversaw Netflix’s comedy slate that included such hits as Dead to Me, Russian Doll, Grace and Frankie, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Master of None – along with poplar dramas Narcos and Ozark as well as adult animated series BoJack Horseman and Big Mouth. Since Wiseman’s 2020 exit from Netflix a month after Holland’s departure, she has consulted on series strategy for other streaming companies, most recently at Amazon MGM Studios.

“Jane is a multi-faceted executive with great passion and curiosity, combined with smart business and creative instincts. She’s a powerful advocate for artists and a generous collaborator, which makes her a great fit for our team at Sister,” Holland said. “I’m really looking forward to welcoming Jane to our team and working with her again.”

Before going to Netflix, Wiseman spent two and a half years at Chernin Entertainment as SVP Comedy. Before that, she was SVP Comedy Development for NBC and sister studio Universal TV (then UMS). During her tenure, Wiseman, who joined NBC in 2005 as VP Comedy Development, developed such series as Parks and Recreation, Community and Up All Night while also spending time in the Alternative Department developing reality series. Before NBC, Wiseman was director of comedy development at Fox, where she played a key role in the development of Arrested Development and The Simple Life.

“Sister’s slate is ambitious, audacious and artist-forward, exactly the kind of work I want to support in this next chapter,” said Wiseman. “On a personal level, I couldn’t be happier to reunite with Cindy and to work closely with her, Jane Featherstone and the whole Sister team.”

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