Kathryn Ann Busby is an American film executive, who has been senior vice president of development at Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPT),Kathryn Busby biography
at ''Savoy'', October 31, 2016. executive vice president of

TriStar Television TriStar Television, Inc. (first spelled Tri-Star, and abbreviated as TT) is an American television production studio that is a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Television. TriStar Television was launched in March 1986 by TriStar Pi ...

, and most recently President of Original Programming at Starz, announced in November 2021. Sometimes credited as Kathy Busby, she is also a film producer. She was elected chair of the board of directors of BAFTA Los Angeles as of 2019, and in January 2022 was announced as chair of BAFTA's inaugural North America Board.

Biography

Education and early work

Busby graduated magna cum laude from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies.Kathryn Busby
at

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

. She worked in the record industry for several years as an executive at

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. ...

, and

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, UK.

Television career

Beginning a career in television, Busby was director of comedy development at

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

from 1996 to 1999. From 1999 to 2005 she was senior vice president and head of development at

Carsey-Werner The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

, where she developed such television series as '' Whoopi'', ''

The Tracy Morgan Show ''The Tracy Morgan Show'' is an American television sitcom created by David M. Israel and Jim O'Doherty, that aired on NBC from December 2, 2003 to March 20, 2004. The series stars Tracy Morgan and Tamala Jones. The show was canceled in its f ...

'', '' Game Over'', and ''

Grounded for Life ''Grounded for Life'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001, as a mid-season replacement on Fox. Created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin, it ran for two seasons on the network until being canceled only two episodes into ...

''. She was subsequently supervising producer for '' The Aisha Tyler Show'' and senior vice president of production at

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

, where she was executive producer on the 2008 film ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' and senior executive on ''

Rush Hour 3 ''Rush Hour 3'' is a 2007 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noémie Lenoir, Yvan Attal and Youki Kudoh. It is the thi ...

'' (2007). Busby worked for four years with

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

from 2010, as vice president of comedy development and vice president of

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and TBS Originals, working on such shows as ''

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

'', ''

Wedding Band A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern pra ...

'' and ''

Sullivan & Son ''Sullivan & Son'' is an American sitcom created by Steve Byrne and Rob Long that was broadcast on TBS. It starred Byrne as Steve Sullivan, who surprises his parents when he leaves his job as a corporate lawyer to take over a bar owned by his ...

''. In 2014, she joined

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

(SPT) Networks, where she was senior vice president of development, initiating and overseeing the sourcing, development and early production of original series around the world. As senior vice president of the boutique production unit Gemstone Studios, she spearheaded the development and production of drama series such as '' Absentia'', and oversaw the development of such projects as the local-language original series ''Ultraviolet'' and the series ''

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

'' (starring

Jerry O'Connell Jerry O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series '' Sliders'', Andrew Clements in ''My Secret Identity'', Vern Tessio in the film '' Stand by ...

and Sydney Poitier Heartsong), until in January 2020 being named executive vice president of

, a division of SPT. In November 2021, it was announced that Busby would be leaving the Sony television label to become President of Original Programming at Starz. In January 2022, Busby was elected Chair of the inaugural BAFTA North America Board.

Other activities

Also a filmmaker, Busby's work includes having directed, produced and co-written the short film '' Max and Josh'' (2006), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and the 2004 comedy short ''My Purple Fur Coat'' (winner of a Best Children's Short award at the Houston Black Film Festival). She co-authored with

Neena Beber Neena Beber is an American writer of plays and television screenplays. She is also a television producer. Beber wrote the sixth episode of the TBS comedy '' The Detour''. Her short (10-minute) play ''Misreadings'' was included in ''Best Americ ...

the original screenplay ''Her Gal Friday'', which was optioned at ABC's Freeform channel. Busby is on the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

board of directors for the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BAFTA), of which she was elected deputy chair in January 2018, and chair in December 2018. She is also on the Board of Directors of PACE (Philanthropy and Community Engagement). Busby features in the 1999 book by Julian C. R. Okwu ''As I Am: Young African American Women in a Critical Age''. She is the niece of British publisher Margaret Busby.

Accolades

In December 2022, Busby was named on ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

''s Women in Entertainment Power 100 list.

References

External links

* Nellie Andreeva
"Starz's Kathryn Busby On Expanding Diverse Storytelling, Re-Teaming With Sean Penn & 'Special' 'Party Down' Revival"
''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'', August 10, 2022.
"Six of the best: Kathryn Busby"
''DQ'' (''Drama Quarterly''), April 30, 2018.
"SPEECH - Kathryn Busby at BAFTA Tea Party in Los Angeles, CA 1/5/19"
Getty Images. {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Kathryn Living people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women African-American screenwriters African-American television producers African-American women writers American television producers American women film producers American women screenwriters American women television producers Harvard University alumni Sony Pictures Entertainment people Year of birth missing (living people)