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Jordan Levin
Born (1967-08-30) August 30, 1967 (age 57)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
Years active1994–present
Employers

Jordan Levin (born August 30, 1967) is an American media executive, producer, entrepreneur and now professor.[1][2][3][4] He was general manager of Rooster Teeth, an Austin, Texas-based digital-media and events company owned by Warner Bros Discovery from 2019 until its closure in 2024.[5] A strategic advisor and business consultant, he was previously the chief executive officer at AwesomenessTV, the chief content officer at the NFL, the CEO at The WB, and the founder and CEO of Generate, a production studio and talent management company.[6][7] Levin is also a former co-owner of the Chicago Red Stars.[8][9]

Early life

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Levin was born to a Jewish family.[10] His father worked in advertising. As a child, Levin states that he would "take the old TV Guide Fall Preview issue and, just based on the descriptions, write whether I thought the shows would stick or not. So I always sort of fantasized about running a network."[11] Levin attended the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin where he majored in Radio-Television-Film with a concentration in film and television theory and criticism.[11]

He wrote his college thesis about how the increasing number of cable channels would force broadcast networks to be more targeted. This caught the eye of executives at the Walt Disney Company, who hired him as a training executive, which was the beginning of Levin's career in the entertainment industry.[1]

Career

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Levin spent five years at Walt Disney Television where he worked on the creative team that developed and managed shows like Home Improvement, Ellen, and Boy Meets World.[1]

In 1994, Levin joined The WB as part of its founding executive team.[12] He oversaw the development of shows like Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, and Smallville.[1][2] While at the WB, Levin worked with writers like J. J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, Ryan Murphy, and Greg Berlanti who wrote and executive produced their first television series.[12][13] Levin became The WB's CEO at the age of 35, making him the youngest CEO in broadcast television history.[14]

In 2005, Levin became the founding CEO of Generate, a production studio and talent management company.[12][15] Generate focused on producing fictional and factual entertainment, branded content, and connecting advertising, technology and entertainment companies.[16] In 2008, Levin secured $6 million in venture financing from MK Capital and Velocity Interactive Group. Three years later in 2011, Levin sold Generate to Alloy Digital, continuing on as Alloy Digital's president.[7] In 2013, Alloy Digital merged with Break Media to form Defy Media.[17]

In 2014, Levin joined Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios as executive vice president, general manager to produce original programming.[7][18] Levin left later that year when Xbox Entertainment Studios was closed due to shifting corporate priorities that came with Microsoft's change of corporate executive leadership.[19]

In 2015, Levin became the chief content officer at the NFL.[20] He oversaw the development, production, and distribution of video and editorial content for the NFL's media networks, including the NFL Network, NFL Digital Media, and NFL Films.[2][21] He also managed the NFL's event programming franchises, such as the Super Bowl Halftime Show and NFL Honors.[22] In 2016, Levin launched Good Morning Football, a live NFL morning television program, on the NFL Network.[23][24][25][26] He won three Emmys, as the executive producer for All or Nothing, Sound FX: Super Bowl 50, and Hard Knocks.[clarification needed][27][better source needed]

In 2017, Levin was hired as the CEO of AwesomenessTV, an American media and entertainment company.[28] As CEO, Levin oversaw the release of To All The Boys I've Loved Before on Netflix, which holds an approval rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 48 reviews.[29] In its 2018 Q3 earning report, Netflix noted that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was one of its most-viewed original films ever.[30] In 2018, AwesomenessTV was sold to Viacom.[31][32]

In addition to his roles as a media executive, Levin is also a speaker, author, producer, and television director. In 2004, Levin directed an episode of Everwood.[33][better source needed] He was an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, where he teaches a class on the entertainment industry in the convergence age. Currently he is a Professor of Practice in the Radio, Television and Film department at the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas in Austin.[34][4] He was named Moody College at the University of Texas at Austin’s Alumnus of the Year in 2002, was the University Alumni Organization’s 2004 Outstanding Young Texas-Ex Award recipient, selected as one of the University’s 125 Extraordinary Exes in 2010, and presented the Robert C. Jeffrey College Benefactor Award in 2018.[34][35] He is also a board member or advisor to several non-profit organizations, academic institutions, political advocacy groups, and early-stage media companies.[36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Rutenberg, Jim (July 14, 2003). "A Must for a TV Chief: Think Like a Teenager". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c Flint, Joe (June 15, 2015). "NFL Hires a Chief Content Officer". Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ All or Nothing. Amazon.
  4. ^ a b Schneider, Michael (June 22, 2024). "Jamie Kellner, TV Maverick Who Launched Both Fox and The WB, Dies at 77". Variety. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Maas, Jennifer (April 8, 2022). "Discovery Closes Acquisition of AT&T's WarnerMedia". Variety. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Guthrie, Marisa (February 2, 2017). "NFL Content Chief on Lady Gaga's "Inclusive" Super Bowl Halftime Show, TV Ratings Woes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Graser, Marc (February 18, 2014). "Jordan Levin Joins Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios". Variety.
  8. ^ Staff, Meg Linehan and The Athletic. "Laura Ricketts-led group finalizes Red Stars purchase". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  9. ^ "Chicago Red Stars purchased by Laura Ricketts-led group of investors for $60 million". NBC Sports Chicago. September 1, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  10. ^ Shamir, Israel (June 8, 2005). Our Lady of Sorrow: The Collected Essays from the Holy Land. BookSurge Publishing. pp. 250–51. ISBN 9781419608353.
  11. ^ a b Estrin, Eric (May 11, 2009). "Thank Betamax, Chaplin for 'Dawson's Creek'". The Wrap.
  12. ^ a b c Graser, Marc (May 23, 2011). "Interview with Jordan Levin". carseywolf.ucsb.edu.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Thielman, Sam (February 26, 2006). "Can a Career TV Exec Bring Ambitious Xbox Shows to Life?". Adweek.
  14. ^ Atkinson, Claire (June 15, 2004). "Janollari In, Levin Out as the WB Reorganizes". The Futon Critic.
  15. ^ Adalian, Josef; Schneider, Michael (February 26, 2006). "Team looks to Generate heat". Variety.
  16. ^ "Generate secures financial backing". Los Angeles Times. March 5, 2008. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015.
  17. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 8, 2013). "Alloy Digital, Break Media Will Merge to Form Internet Video Studio 'Defy Media'". Variety.
  18. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 29, 2014). "XES Toppers Nancy Tellem & Jordan Levin Out In Microsoft's Last Wave Of Layoffs". Deadline.
  19. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn (July 17, 2014). "Microsoft to Shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios (Updated)". Recode.
  20. ^ Malone, Michael (August 23, 2016). "'Bonus' Round: Jordan Levin's Top TV Shows, Favorite Books and Best Brisket". The Business of Television.
  21. ^ "NFL Hires Former WB Network Chief Jordan Levin as Head of Content". The Hollywood Reporter. June 14, 2015.
  22. ^ Richard Deitsch (September 14, 2016). "No. 42: Jordan Levin". Sports Illustrated.
  23. ^ Feldman, Jacob. "Good Morning Football Is Popular Among Players, But Still Searching For Mainstream Audience". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  24. ^ Traina, Jimmy. "ESPN's 'Get Up' Has Been a Gift for NFL Network's 'Good Morning Football'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  25. ^ Curtis, Charles (August 29, 2018). "What makes 'Good Morning Football' work, according to its stars". USA Today. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  26. ^ "NFL Network announces new show 'Good Morning Football'". NFL.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  27. ^ Hard Knocks Awards. IMDB.
  28. ^ Flint, Joe (May 9, 2017). "Awesomeness Names Veteran TV Programmer Jordan Levin as CEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  29. ^ To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Rotten Tomatoes.
  30. ^ Roettgers, Janko (2018). "More Than 80 Million Subscribers Watched Netflix Rom-Coms This Summer". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  31. ^ Spangler, Todd (2018). "Viacom's AwesomenessTV Deal Worth More Than $50 Million: Sources". Variety. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  32. ^ Patel, Sahil (August 2, 2018). "Go90 or bust: How AwesomenessTV's fate was tied to Verizon". DigiDay. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  33. ^ Jordan Levin on IMDB.
  34. ^ a b "Jordan Levin". moody.utexas.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  35. ^ "Jordan Levin | Moody College of Communication". moody.utexas.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  36. ^ "Austin PBS Board of Directors | Austin PBS, KLRU-TV". Austin PBS. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
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