ABC Names CBS Studios Exec Brianna Bennett New Head of Drama
Brianna Bennett has been named senior vice president of network drama for ABC Entertainment, Variety has learned.
Bennett comes to ABC from CBS Studios, where she served as vice president of drama development since 2014. She takes over heading up drama for the broadcaster from Brian Morewitz, whose exit was announced back in July. In her new role, Bennett will report to Simran Sethi, executive vice president of development and content strategy for ABC Entertainment. She will lead the drama series development team and oversee the department’s day-to-day operations, including creatively supervising production of new drama pilots for ABC.
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“Brianna is an amazing creative executive whose intellect, instinct and passion will drive our drama development forward as we continue to prioritize, nurture and sustain culturally inclusive and impactful storytelling,” Sethi said. “Her depth of experience and love of broadcast television will serve ABC’s commitment to bold and groundbreaking content with a watchful eye toward intersectionality.”
During her time at CBS Studios, Bennett was involved in developing shows like “Evil,” “SEAL Team,” “Clarice,” and “NCIS: Hawaii” for CBS. Both “Evil” and “SEAL Team” recently moved over to streamer Paramount Plus. She also worked on CBS Studios shows like “Nancy Drew” and “Walker” for The CW, “Insatiable” for Netflix, and “The Lost Symbol” for Peacock, among others.
“I’m looking forward to working with Simran and the entire team on developing the next great drama for ABC, a network that has long been defined by some of the most important and trailblazing shows of our time,” said Bennett. “This is an exhilarating time to be a creator and writer in entertainment, especially for new and up-and-coming voices – there’s no limit to the stories we can tell.”
Prior to her time at ViacomCBS, Bennett worked at Fox and helped develop shows such as “Sleepy Hollow,” “The Following,” “Gang Related,” “Almost Human,” “Red Band Society” and “Empire.”
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