Mala Chapple Upped To President Of Liz Garbus & Dan Cogan’s Story Syndicate

Matt Grobar
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Mala Chapple has been elevated to President of Story Syndicate, the decorated production company of Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan, having made a significant mark there since joining as Chief Operating Officer in 2021.

In her previous role, Chapple oversaw production, business affairs and financial operations for the company. She also served as an executive producer of Harry & Meghan — the series on the royals that last year notched Netflix’s biggest-ever doc debut, with over 81.55M hours viewed globally in its first week of release — as well as the Netflix adventure-exploration series Unknown.

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Going forward, Chapple will continue to steer the organization through ever-shifting market conditions, in concert with Garbus and Cogan. As she increases the scope of her responsibilities, Head of Documentary and Nonfiction Jon Bardin will assume additional oversight as far as day-to-day project management.

“As a creative company, how do you thrive in an evolving marketplace while remaining devoted to unique, premium work? You empower Mala Chapple,” said Cogan in a statement to Deadline. “Over the last several years, Mala has been an invaluable business partner to Liz and me. With her deep experience in non fiction, sense of diplomacy, and entrepreneurial spirit, Mala will keep us focused on maintaining the delicate balance between creative ambition and sound business strategy.”

Continued the Story Syndicate co-founder, “With Mala as President and Jon Bardin as Head of Documentary and Nonfiction, we have a dream team in place to help Liz and I pilot Story Syndicate into the future while focusing on what matters most: telling extraordinary, meaningful stories that blow audiences away.”

Chapple added that she’s “thrilled to work with Liz and Dan to lead the incredible team at Story Syndicate into the next chapter while looking for new ways to expand this exceptional brand.”

Prior to Story Syndicate, Chapple served as SVP of Content Strategy, Operations and Media Partnerships at MTV Studios, and as COO and Executive Vice President of Eastern, where she exec produced VH1’s hit franchise, Love & Hip Hop. She also worked as a network executive at the Sundance Channel, overseeing development and a production slate that included the Peabody Award-winning series Brick City, featuring then-Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker, as well as the Emmy-nominated music series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with….

As an independent producer, Chapple has worked with Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock and has produced shows for A&E, Bravo, Comedy Central, FX, VH1, MTV and the History Channel. She has also served on the Board of the Producers Guild of America and the Advisory Board of Reelworks, a program providing underserved New York City adolescents with the chance to express themselves through film.

In addition to Harry & Meghan, Story Syndicate has in recent months released the films Take Care of Maya and Unknown: The Last Pyramid, which spent multiple weeks on Netflix’s Top 10 charts, as well as the Hulu docuseries Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence and the buzzy Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York with HBO.

Among other upcoming projects from the NYC-based company, founded in 2019, is the Apple documentary double feature Number One on the Call Sheet, telling the stories of trailblazing Black actors and actresses in Hollywood, which counts Jamie Foxx, Kevin Hart, Angela Bassett and Halle Berry amongst its producers.

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