Who is Amy Entelis? CNN exec who lead award-winning documentary unit will take over from Chris Licht

Amy Entelis will take over from outgoing CEO Chris Licht Photo by Taylor Hill/WireImage

• CNN CEO Chris Licht is out at the network. Longtime executive Amy Entelis will take over in the interim.
• Entelis notably led the network's original series and feature-length documentary unit.
• She also served as a part of the interim leadership team after the exit of then-president Jeff Zucker.

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After a turbulent year at CNN, CEO Chris Licht is out at the network and will be replaced for an interim period by longtime executive Amy Entelis.

Entelis, who joined joined CNN in 2012, revitalized the network's original series and feature-length documentary unit, launching high-profile shows like "Parts Unknown" with Anthony Bourdain and "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy."

Entelis, 72, is currently the executive vice president for talent and content development at CNN Worldwide. She was also a part of the interim leadership team that was instated after the exit of then-president Jeff Zucker.

Entelis notably lead the charge at CNN Films, the network's longform documentary unit. Under her tenure, CNN Films produced documentaries including the Academy Award-winning "Navalny," about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, "Roadrunner," the controversial documentary following the life of Bourdain, and the BAFTA-nominated "Blackfish." According to the company's website, Entelis has been responsible for overseeing 45 documentary series and 60 feature length films, earning CNN 100 awards and 445 nominations.

In a memo from October 2022, Licht announced that CNN would be scaling back on commissioned series and films, working instead to prioritize in-house content. 

"Amy Entelis and her team built the CNN Original Series and CNN Films brands from scratch and grew them into storytelling powerhouses, with reams of critical accolades from across the industry, and many shelves of Primetime Emmy Awards to prove it," Licht wrote in the memo.

Before joining CNN, Entelis spent three decades at ABC, where she managed talent for shows like "20/20," "Good Morning America," "Nightline," and "World News Tonight." 

Entelis is expected to oversee programming and editorial while Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav searches for a replacement for Licht. David Leavy, Zaslav's trusted and newly-installed COO, will oversee business operations. Virginia Moseley, EVP of editorial, and Eric Sherling, EVP of US programming will also help steer the ship during the interim period.

"I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally," Zaslav said in a statement. "The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation.