Andy Weil Leaves Netflix to Join Amazon MGM Studios as Head of Comedy

Andy Weil, Netflix’s Vice President of Comedy and the streamer’s second-longest serving programming executive, has announced that he is leaving the company to join Amazon MGM Studios as the new Head of Comedy. This significant move comes after a month-long search by Amazon MGM Studios’ Head of Global Television, Peter Friedlander, who was Weil’s former boss at Netflix.

Friedlander, who was Weil’s former boss at Netflix, launched the search for a Head of Comedy a month ago. At the time, he tweaked his original plan for the studio’s scripted operation structure, creating three areas – Drama, Comedy, and Young Adult – each reporting directly to him. Weil joins Amazon veteran Kara Smith, who was named Head of Drama at the time of the June restructuring announcement. The Head of YA job remains vacant.

Weil is the latest Friedlander hire of a senior executive he had worked with at Netflix, following the appointments of Blair Fetter as Head of Worldbuilding & Genre Series, Jenn Levy as Head of Nonfiction, and Mandy Schaffer as Head of Business Affairs. He is the first current Netflix executive to make the move; the rest had left the streamer before they were recruited by Friedlander.

Weil is a well-regarded comedy executive who has spent over 11 years at Netflix. He joined the platform’s comedy team as Director, Original Series, in June 2015 from Universal Television. By then, Weil had already been a rising star, having been 27 when NBCUniversal brought him in as VP Comedy in late 2011 after he had served as head of scripted television for BermanBraun.

During his tenure at Netflix, Weil served as the No. 2 comedy executive, first under Jane Wiseman and then Tracey Pakosta, and was promoted to VP in February 2020. He took the reins of the department on an interim basis after Wiseman’s October 2020 exit until Pakosta’s arrival a month later. In addition to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the many Netflix comedy series Weil oversaw over the years include Master of None, BoJack Horseman, Nobody Wants This, The Four Seasons, Russian Doll, The Upshaws, The Ranch, Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, Tires, A Man on the Inside, Big Mistakes, Free Bert, Lady Dynamite, The Kominsky Method, Leanne, The Vince Staples Show, On My Block, A Different World, and the upcoming A Hundred Percent and I Suck at Girls.

Weil also worked on Netflix’s sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror. With his extensive experience in comedy development and a proven track record of identifying and developing standout series, Weil is set to bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Amazon MGM Studios as the new Head of Comedy.

Amazon MGM Studios is yet to scale up in the half-hour comedy space, but it has made significant strides in the drama and YA arena with a string of global hits such as Reacher, Fallout, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Off Campus. Its modestly sized current comedy slate includes two hits in the YA arena, Overcompensating and Elle, as well as the Emmy-nominated anthology Jury Duty. There is also the recent breakout hourlong comedy-drama Ride or Die, which is awaiting word on Season 2 renewal.

Amazon MGM Studios’ Head of Global Television, Peter Friedlander, has expressed his enthusiasm for Weil’s appointment, stating, ‘Andy comes to us from Netflix, where he spent more than 11 years leading comedy development, after previously working at Universal Television. He has deep creative instincts, strong relationships across the comedy community, and a proven track record of identifying and developing standout series.’