Orsi, Levine Promoted to Co-Heads of HBO Drama Department

Francesca Orsi and David Levine, both senior VPs, HBO Programming, have been named coheads of HBO drama series, overseeing the development and production of all drama series for the network. They will report to Casey Bloys, who recently took over as president, HBO Programming.

“Francesca and David have long histories at HBO. They understand the brand intimately and enjoy strong, respected relationships with the creative community,” said Bloys. “In this new structure, two talented executives are in a position to quickly greenlight HBO’s next great slate of drama series.” 

Orsi, who joined HBO in 2003 as an executive assistant, oversees Vinyl and the upcoming Big Little Lies, and series under her direction have included The Leftovers and Boardwalk Empire. She was named senior VP in August of 2014.              

Levine oversees Game of Thrones, J.J. Abrams’ and Jonah Nolan’s Westworld, the upcoming Sharp Objects and Cinemax series The Knick. Past series include True Detective and True Blood. Levine came to HBO as a consultant in 2009, and was named director, HBO Entertainment, that same year. In 2011, he was promoted to VP, HBO Entertainment, and then senior VP in August 2014.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.