Jill Holmes Steps Down As VH1 Head Of West Coast Development, Segues To First-Look Deal
Jill Holmes, Head of West Coast Development and Production for VH1, is leaving the network’s executive ranks after almost 18 years. She will depart her post in August, staying in the VH1 fold with a multi-year first-look deal.
During her tenure, Holmes — who first joined VH1 as VP Series Production in late 1998 — has been involved in the development and production of such signature VH1 shows as Behind the Music, Flavor of Love and its offshoots, T.I. and Tiny, Dating Naked and Basketball Wives. Holmes’ team, led by VP Kristen Kelly and Fernando Mills, remains in place.
Holmes’ departure was announced internally by Chris McCarthy, who recently was promoted to president of VH1 and Logo TV. Here is his internal memo, obtained by Deadline:
Hi everyone,
I have some news to share about our good friend and one of our senior leaders here at VH1, Jill Holmes. After nearly 20 years as an integral part of the VH1 family, Jill has decided to step away from her role as Head of West Coast Development and Production to start a new journey.
That’s the hard news, the good news is Jill won’t be going fast or far. Jill will be with us till August, and beyond that, we have secured a long term relationship with Jill to remain within the VH1 family as a part of her next chapter.
During Jill’s long and successful tenure, she has been a key leader in transforming the brand into a pop culture powerhouse. Jill and her team have created some of TV’s most iconic franchises and characters, including “Behind the Music,” “T.I. and Tiny”, “Dating Naked”, “Basketball Wives” and of course who could forget the Love – “Flavor of Love”, “Rock of Love”, “I Love New York” and so many others.
She has been a creative force for the brand, a thoughtful leader for the organization and a great partner in crime. On a personal note, I will miss her terrific sense of humor, her warmth and her ski lessons J
Jill leaves us in a fantastic place – we’ve seen four consecutive quarters of ratings’ increases and currently lead the industry in growth up over 30%. Her outstanding team, led by our Vice Presidents Kristen Kelly and Fernando Mills, will of course continue to develop great content for us and lead the West Coast teams. More to come shortly on a new structure, but today we just want to salute Jill.
Please join me in thanking Jill Holmes for her immeasurable contributions to VH1.
-Chris
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