MRC promotes Vet Exec Scott Tenley to CEO

Independent entertainment studio MRC has promoted former executive Scott Tenley to CEO.

Tenley served as chief business officer for the company, which supported film and episodic projects, among other things knife out, Poker face And osark. The former corporate entertainment lawyer joined MRC 16 years ago and has achieved a number of successes, including negotiations to separate the company from Valence Media.

As CEO, Tenley will oversee the studio’s film, television and nonfiction divisions, strategic partnerships and all of the company’s shared services functions, including finance, legal and human resources. In the new management structure, founders Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu will become chairmen.

“Scott Tenley has been on almost every deal, every performance at MRC for the past 16 years. He pioneered almost every aspect of our business from sales house of cards to Netflix, establishing the Academy of Country Music Awards on Amazon Prime Video, ever-changing credit facilities, equity arrangements and more,” said Wiczyk and Satchu. “But Scott is so much more than a deal person: He is our cultural heart, our loudest cheerleader, our most ruthless defender and our ambassador for the community. Scott is an agent of change and the company cannot thrive without him.”

Tenley said he was “so lucky to be surrounded by the smartest and hardest-working colleagues as we built an amazing company working with the best and brightest artists and storytellers.” He thanked Wiczyk, Satchu “and all my colleagues and partners who gave me the rarest opportunity to play a small role in the making of cult films and television shows.”

At MRC, Tenley helped raise billions of dollars in equity and mezzanine capital for the company with partners such as Goldman Sachs, WPP, ATT, JPMorgan, Abry Partners and Eldridge. He also led the company’s credit facility with JPMorgan and a consortium of leading entertainment banks.

Most recently, Tenley led the sales team Poker face to the peacock The show was a breakthrough, award-winning and worthy of a second season renewal. Hits with season 2 already ordered. At Sundance in January, he provided strategic guidance on the sale of Chloe Domont’s Fair play to Netflix on the biggest sale of the festival and helped close the sale of Emerald Fennell’s salt fire to Amazon and is also releasing a second season and a spin-off of the hit Prime Video series The terminal list.

In 2012, at the dawn of the direct-to-consumer streaming era, Tenley led the effort house of cards to Netflix, a then unheard of upfront commitment. In a press release announcing Tenley’s promotion, the company commented on the tense final stages of the landmark streaming series. “Nothing underscores Tenley’s patience and dedication more than his leadership and handling of the aftermath of Kevin Spacey’s sexual harassment,” the publication said of the efforts, which include “saving the sixth and final season of house of cardsand obtaining a $31 million judgment against Spacey for breach of contract.