Sheila Nevins Leaving Job As HBO Documentary President; Network Says She’s “Not Retiring”
Sheila Nevins, who as president of HBO documentary films became a powerful figure in the world of non-fiction programming, is leaving HBO.
News of her departure came in a lengthy New York Times profile posted today. HBO confirmed to Deadline that she is leaving, but noted that she is not retiring.
Further announcements and details are expected from HBO nearly this upcoming week.
The 78-year-old Nevins told the Times‘ Maureen Dowd, “There’s something exciting about leaving a job. I can’t explain it. I have deprived my life of a life. All I did was work.”
Nevins added, “I was, like, born at HBO and I don’t have to die there. If I stayed any longer, I probably would have died at my desk. I just regret that there’s so little time left.”
As president of HBO Documentary Films, Nevins oversees the development and production of all documentaries for HBO, HBO2 and Cinemax. She’s held the post since February 2004.
According to her HBO bio, Nevins, as an executive producer or producer, has received 32 Primetime Emmy Awards, 35 News and Documentary Emmys and 42 George Foster Peabody Awards. Under her watch, HBO docs have won 26 Academy Awards, including A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Citizenfour, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Saving Face, Strangers No More, Music By Prudence, Smile Pinki, Chernobyl Heart and You Don’t Have To Die, among others.
Nevins received the 2009 Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a 2008 Gotham Awards Tribute, a 2005 Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Personal Peabody. In 2003, Women in Film presented Nevins with a Lucy Award for her outstanding achievements in advancing documentary filmmaking, and in 2002, the National Board of Review presented her with the Humanitarian Award for her contribution to the advancement of social reforms and the promotion of human welfare through film.
In all, Nevins supervised the production of more than 1,000 documentary programs for HBO, and won the first George Foster Peabody Award ever presented to a cable program for She’s Nobody’s Baby, which was produced with Ms. Magazine. She is the author of You Don’t Look Your Age… and Other Fairy Tales.
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