MTV has hired Sheila Nevins, former longtime President of HBO Documentary Films, as head of its new Documentary Films division. As part of MTV Studios, the new division will develop documentary films and specials for third-party streaming services, premium networks and MTV platforms. Under Nevins, MTV Documentary…

HBO has promoted Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller to executive vice presidents of HBO Documentary and Family Programming, from their current SVP roles. They will replace longtime Documentary Films President Sheila Nevins, who’s leaving the network in early 2018. "With Nancy and Lisa leading a stellar team, there will be…

HBO has released more details of the departure of Sheila Nevins, the longtime president of HBO Documentary and Family Programming. The premium cabler said today in a release that Nevins is leaving the network in early 2018 to “pursue the rest of my life.” The New York Times first reported Nevins was exiting HBO after…

Sheila Nevins, who as president of HBO documentary films became a powerful figure in the world of non-fiction programming, is leaving HBO. News of her departure came in a lengthy New York Times profile posted today. HBO confirmed to Deadline that she is leaving, but noted that she is not retiring. Further…

Filmmakers, always alert about “following the money,” are taking notice of this phenomenon: Raising money for theatrical films (especially drama) is getting tougher, while funding for documentaries is expanding exponentially. And there's growing heat in TV and film for the relatively new domain of “scripted reality.” <a href="https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/princess-diana.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"…

Athena Film Festival, a public film confab spotlighting works by and about women, will launch this year’s edition with the New York premiere of Dawn Porter’s Trapped, a documentary about Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws, like those recently passed in Texas and Alabama, that threaten American…

HBO came on board with Sundance 2012 documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present after seeing the Serbian performance artist at MoMA. The company’s maverick non-fiction guru Sheila Nevins gave the lowdown on the premium channel’s association with the documentary, which had already begun shooting before HBO…

Filmmaker Rory Kennedy is the youngest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and has made over 35 documentaries covering topics ranging from poverty to politics to human rights. Her latest feature Ethel is a personal look at her mother Ethel Kennedy who raised 11 children on her own following the assassination of RFK in Los…

UPDATE: The West Memphis 3, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were just freed in an Arkansas hearing after being in prison 18 years for the murder of three children in 1993. The three were freed after pleading guilty and drawing a sentence equal to the time they already served. The original…

Nora Ephron, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, IATSE International president Matthew Loeb and HBO Documentary Films’ Sheila Nevins have been tapped for the 2011 DGA Honors, set for Oct. 13 at the DGA Theater in New York. The evening also well feature a posthumous tribute to pioneering early 20th century filmmaker Alice Guy…

EXCLUSIVE: HBO has closed a deal for Hot Coffee, the Susan Saladoff-directed competition documentary which focuses on  how corporations have used the memory of outlandish legal verdicts as a way to press for tort reforms and avoid jury trials through arbitration on cases that actually have merit. HBO’s Sheila Nevins…

Following the preemptive acquisition of the documentary Project Nim by HBO, there was some question of whether theatrical distributors would be as excited about acquiring the film, when all of its rights were now spoken for. Roadside Attractions has stepped up. Here’s the release: Park City, UT (January 27, 2011)…