WWE Announces New Head of WWE Studios

WWE has made the following announcement:

Susan Levison Named Head of WWE® Studios

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced that Susan Levison has been named Senior Vice President and Head of WWE Studios, reporting to WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson. WWE Studios is the organization’s multi-platform content division that develops and produces scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, animated programming and feature films.

WWE Studios has already seen success with hit shows Total Divas and Total Bellas on E!, Miz & Mrs. on USA, as well as documentaries in partnership with HBO and ESPN. It has also produced movies such as The Call and The Marine franchise, and most recently teamed up with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson/Seven Bucks Productions, Kevin Misher and Film 4 to produce the feature film Fighting with My Family, written and directed by Stephen Merchant, which hit theaters nationwide last month.

“I’m thrilled to have Susan at the helm of WWE Studios given her vast relationships and experience in producing high-quality, compelling content,” said Wilson. “WWE Studios is making a big push in global content across genres and platforms to reach new audiences, super-serve our passionate fans and further establish the WWE brand.”

“I could not be more excited to join WWE Studios,” said Levison. “This is a massive brand with a passionate worldwide audience and there are endless opportunities for WWE Studios to become a leading content provider around the world.”

Levison comes to WWE from CBS Television Studios, where she was Senior Vice President, Alternative Programming, responsible for all unscripted development and production across cable, streaming and digital platforms. While at CBS, she produced unscripted projects and series in a variety of genres.

Prior to CBS, Levison served as Executive Vice President, Original Programming & Production at VH1, overseeing more than 350 hours of original programming and development each year. During that time, Levison ramped up their scripted efforts, developing the critically acclaimed drama, Hindsight. She also launched Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, which ranked as cable’s highest-rated new unscripted series of 2014, and the Nicole Richie soft-scripted series Candidly Nicole.

Previously, Levison helped to launch FishBowl Worldwide Media, a startup production company, where she developed, sold and produced scripted and unscripted series for Bravo, Discovery, TruTV, Animal Planet, Fuse and VH1.

She began her career at Fox Broadcasting Company in the Alternative Development where she worked on shows such as American Idol, Temptation Island and The Simple Life. She also worked in both the Drama Development and Comedy Development departments, where she worked on such series as Bones, House, and Bob’s Burgers.

About WWE

WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG, family-friendly programming can be seen in more than 800 million homes worldwide in 27 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 180 countries. The Company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai,Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.

Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to https://www.wwe.com/worldwide/

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Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including, without limitation, claims relating to CTE; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the relatively small public “float” of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.