Longform-Programming Exec Quinn Taylor Departs NBC, Joins Howard Stringer’s Atrium TV

NBC’s head of movies and miniseries Quinn Taylor has departed the broadcast network and joined Atrium TV, a new venture from former Sony USA chief Howard Stringer and U.K. distributor DRG.

Taylor left NBC in January at the end of his contract, Variety has learned. The exec had joined the network in 2013 to restart its longform programming division, developing movies and miniseries.

“We loved working with Quinn at NBC,” said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke. “He’s a fantastic executive and will be a tremendous asset to Atrium TV.”

Taylor jumped to NBC from ABC, where he spent more than 15 years, at a time when the Peacock was struggling to establish new scripted series and was dependent almost exclusively on the ratings success of “The Voice” and “Sunday Night Football.” But in the years since, NBC has found its series-development footing with dramas such as “This Is Us,” “The Blacklist,” “Blindspot,” and three new “Chicago” procedurals, as well as comedies “Superstore” and “The Good Place.” Scheduling real estate that may otherwise have gone to longform programming has been ceded to midseason and summer series such as spinoff “The Blacklist: Redemption,” medical drama “The Night Shift,” and comedy “The Carmichael Show.”

Taylor developed the 2015 holiday movie “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” — a surprise hit for the network that drew nearly 13 million viewers — and its 2016 sequel. But other movie and miniseries projects were developed by other departments. Former drama head Pearlena Igbokwe, now president of NBC’s studio Universal Television, took the lead on last year’s “Emerald City.” NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt led development on 2015’s “The Slap” and on the network’s live musicals, including “The Wiz Live” and “Hairspray Live.”

Atrium TV was announced Monday at international sales conference Mip TV in Cannes. The new venture is described as a “commissioning club,” developing series projects and make them available to OTT and SVOD services that are club “members.” Taylor will serve as a consultant to the venture.

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter