ESPN Exec VP/Content Connor Schell, one of the network's top executives, will leave the company at the end of the year to set up his own production company. Schell has been talking with his boss, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, about this plan for several months. Just last week, Schell started telling people internally. Several ESPN sources describe the split as amicable and not related to the 500 job cuts ESPN announced last week.
Details surrounding Schell’s production company still are being hammered out, but it is expected to create more than just sports documentaries; it will expand to other non-fiction genres, too. Sources expect Schell to cut a deal selling content from his new company to ESPN soon after he sets it up. Schell’s current role at ESPN oversees all content -- from making talent moves to greenlighting shows. Schell’s move to focus on production does not come as a surprise to people that know him. Along with Bill Simmons, Schell was one of the creative forces behind ESPN’s acclaimed “30-for-30” documentary series and the “OJ: Made in America” documentary that won the net its first Oscar. The N.Y. Post first reported this story.
