Warner Bros. TV exec VP Leonard Goldstein is ankling his post to help build a Fake Empire.
A day after Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage announced their venture came word that Goldstein would trade in his executive stripes and join their new production shingle.
As head of television, Goldstein will head up development, oversee current programming and executive produce series along side Schwartz and Savage.
Goldstein has worked out an arrangement with Warner Bros. TV to continue with the studio through the end of pilot season. Now that things have changed, Goldstein will move to another part of the lot, as he takes the Warner Bros.-based Fake Empire gig full time.
Warner Bros. TV prexy Peter Roth said Goldstein, who spent 13 years at the studio, had made “an indelible mark on our company.” Exec helped develop hits such as “Smallville” and “The Mentalist,” as well as Schwartz’s “Chuck” and “Gossip Girl.”
Goldstein has served as exec VP of creative affairs at Warner Bros. TV since 2004.
“While we will sorely miss Len, we are delighted about his new venture with Josh and Stephanie,” Roth said. “Collectively, they will make a very creative and powerful producing team.”
Both Schwartz and Savage noted that they sold their first-ever pilots to the exec; Schwartz said he’s also bonded over music with Goldstein, who’s a big Bob Dylan fan.
“He’s one of the few people who can give me bad news or big notes, and I still like him,” Schwartz said. “I floated the idea (of partnering) a few years ago, but it’s all about timing. He knew what Stephanie and I had planned, and the timing was finally right.”
Savage noted that Goldstein’s experience encompasses comedy and drama, broadcast and cable, and online.
