Maria Zuckerman Exiting Role As President At Topic Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Maria Zuckerman is stepping down from her role as President of Topic Studios, where she has led the company’s film, streaming, television and podcast slate for over three years. Where the well-respected executive will land is not yet clear.

“Maria has a fantastic creative sensibility with a keen commercial sense to match,” said First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom, to whom Zuckerman reported. “Over the past three years, she and the studio team have accelerated Topic Studios’ growth into a world-class independent studio, attracting stellar talent, exciting voices, and spear-heading award-winning films, documentaries, series, and podcasts. We are grateful for all she did and wish her the very best in the future.”

In her time at Topic, Zuckerman overhauled the studio—greenlighting, producing and selling brand-defining, profitable titles; creating four distinct content verticals (Scripted TV, Film, Nonfiction and Podcasts); establishing a Scripted TV department in LA; elevating the Studio’s profile; and realizing her ambition to elevate the Topic Studios brand through premium content that makes a cultural impact. She also overhauled Topic’s investment model and creative content strategy, exponentially increasing content production and revenue throughout the pandemic.

Under Zuckerman’s leadership, Topic Studios sold projects to Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Paramount and Freeform/Disney; created a podcast slate deal with Audible and sold pods to distributors including Spotify, iHeart and Wondery; and established several pacts with independent producers. Projects that Zuckerman greenlit or sold for Topic Studios have been Oscar-nominated in major categories; won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance; been nominated and won Golden Globes in major categories; recognized as a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Podcasts; and garnered rave reviews from press including the New York Times and LA Times.

Under Topic Studios’ banner, Zuckerman recently executive produced Nanny, from first-time filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2022, and sold to Blumhouse and Amazon. Additional films that Zuckerman greenlighted during her tenure at Topic Studios included Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s recently announced Theatre Camp; Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool, starring Alexander Skarsgård, to be co-released with Neon; Pablo Larraìn’s Spencer, which brought Kristen Stewart her first Oscar nom; the Jodie Foster starrer The Mauritanian, released by STXfilms; Chris Smith’s surfing series 100 Foot Wave for HBO; Ry Russo-Young’s Independent Spirit Award-nominated series Nuclear Family for HBO; and director Lizzie Gottlieb’s doc, Turn Every Page, about the remarkable fifty-year relationship between two literary legends, writer Robert Caro (The Power Broker) and his editor Robert Gottlieb. Other notable titles under her purview included David Antebi’s feature directorial debut God’s Time, developed under the studio’s first-look deal with Watch This Ready, which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Toni Collette’s upcoming directorial debut Writers and Lovers, adapted from Lily King’s New York Times bestseller, with Nick Payne, Susannah Grant and Sarah Timberman producing.

Zuckerman also oversaw the sale and release of documentaries including The Fight, co-released with Magnolia Pictures; Lucy Walker’s Bring Your Own Brigade, on Paramount+; and Mucho Mucho Amor on Netflix. She  additionally oversaw the competitive sale of the Untitled Vincent Chin Project, a scripted drama limited series to be created for Amazon by Marilyn Fu, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) attached to direct; and two premium dramas arising from the Studios’ previous first-look deal with Tracy Oliver (Harlem), including the adult thriller Savannah with PKM Productions for Amazon Studios.

Zuckerman’s time at Topic also saw the release of successful podcasts including Pushkin Industries’ food and travel show Not Lost from former Dinner Party Download host Brendan Francis Newman, The Messenger and American ISIS on Audible Plus and the Pulitzer finalist Somebody at iHeartRadio.

Prior to Topic Studios, Zuckerman was at HBO for 20 years where she served as SVP, HBO Films. Her career slate included 30 titles from such talent as Richard Curtis, Peter Morgan and David Yates. Her films earned HBO 95 Emmy nominations, winning 17 Emmy Awards, including three for Best Movie/Miniseries; 22 Golden Globe nominations with five wins, including two for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television; 23 BAFTA nominations, and numerous NAACP, GLAAD and SAG Awards. Some of her HBO movies included Bessie, Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, Grey Gardens and Mary and Martha.