Susan Rovner

Executive Vice President, Development, Warner Bros. Television; Co-President, Warner Horizon Scripted Television

Susan Rovner has served as Executive Vice President, Development, at Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) — the division of the Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) which produces scripted dramatic primetime television programming for each of the five broadcast networks — since March 2010. In March 2014, she was named Co-President of Warner Horizon Scripted Television (WHSTV), WBTVG’s division for scripted cable primetime programming, which she co-runs alongside WBTV business/operations/production executive Brett A. Paul

In her role, reporting directly to Warner Bros. Television Group President and Chief Content Officer Peter Roth, Rovner is responsible for spearheading the creation of new scripted primetime programming for the broadcast network and cable marketplace, and overseeing WBTV’s drama and comedy development teams as well as WHSTV’s scripted programming staff

For the 2018–19 network television season, WBTV’s development team — under Rovner’s direction — scored eight scripted series orders. These include “Manifest” for NBC, which launched as the #1 new drama series premiere since “This Is Us” in 2016; the highly anticipated action-drama “Whiskey Cavalier” for ABC; the comedy “Murphy Brown” and dramas “God Friended Me” and “The Red Line” for CBS; and the dramas “All American,” “Legacies” and “Roswell, New Mexico” for The CW

Additionally, Rovner has spearheaded WBTV’s creative expansion to increase development for streaming/on-demand services and continue its development for premium cable. New straight-to-series orders include “Demimonde” (from J.J. Abrams), “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “Watchmen” for HBO; “Doom Patrol,” “Stargirl” and “Swamp Thing” for the new DC UNIVERSE digital subscription service; “Little Voice” for Apple; “Shrill” for Hulu”; plus “AJ and the Queen,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” a Dolly Parton anthology series, “The Kominsky Method,” “Madam CJ Walker” and “What/If” for Netflix

These join one-hour dramas “Lovecraft Country” for HBO, “Castle Rock” for Hulu and the new live-action DC drama series “Titans” for DC UNIVERSE. And the half-hour animated comedy “Green Eggs and Ham” (in association with Warner Bros. Animation) is being readied for a bow on Netflix

Additional current WBTV series developed by Rovner’s team during her tenure include “Westworld” for HBO, “Splitting Up Together” for ABC, “Blindspot” for NBC, “Gotham” and “Lethal Weapon” for FOX, and “The 100,” “Arrow,” “Black Lightning,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “The Flash,” “iZOMBIE,” “Riverdale” and “Supergirl” for The CW, “Shameless” for Showtime and “Lucifer” for Netflix

WBTV also previously produced “The Leftovers” for HBO, “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” for Netflix and the event series “11.22.63” for Hulu.

Warner Horizon Scripted Television’s current series overseen by Rovner include “Animal Kingdom” and “Claws” for TNT; “David Makes Man,” Love Is___” and “Queen Sugar” for OWN; “Fuller House” for Netflix; “Krypton” for SYFY; “Pennyworth” for EPIX; “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” for Freeform; and “You” for Lifetime.

Before being named to her current posts, Rovner was WBTV’s Senior Vice President of Drama Development, overseeing the development of some of the company’s most important and successful programs, working closely with WBTV’s highly regarded stable of one-hour series producers, including J.J. Abrams, John Wells, Jerry Bruckheimer, Bruno Heller, Kevin Williamson and more

Series developed by Rovner during her tenure running the drama department include “The Closer,” “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Mentalist,” “Nip/Tuck,” “One Tree Hill,” “Supernatural, “The Vampire Diaries” many more.

Rovner joined WBTV in 1998 as Director, Drama Development, and subsequently was promoted to Vice President, Drama Development, in 2001. During this time, she helped develop the long-running “Cold Case,” as well as “The O.C.” and the critically acclaimed “Everwood.”

During her time with the company, 15 series developed by Rovner or that were developed under her leadership have reached the 100-episode milestone or will do so during the 2018–19 season: “Arrow,” “2 Broke Girls,” “The Closer,” “Cold Case,” “The Flash,” “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl,” “Gotham,” “Major Crimes,” “The Mentalist,” “One Tree Hill,” “Person of Interest,” “Shameless,” “Supernatural” and “The Vampire Diaries.”

Before WBTV, Rovner was Executive Director, Movies for Television, at ABC.

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