A Conversation with Channing Dungey and Greg Berlanti

Highly esteemed entertainment industry leader Channing Dungey serves as Chairman and CEO of the Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG). She was tapped to run the TV Group in October 2020 and began her tenure at the Studio in January 2021. In this role, she has creative responsibility for all of Warner Bros.’ unrivaled television production activities, including production of scripted, unscripted, and animated series for on-demand/streaming platforms, premium/pay and basic cable channels, and the U.S. broadcast networks. She is the first woman and first Black executive to run WBTVG.

As Chairman and CEO, Dungey oversees Warner Bros. Television, the Studio’s flagship television production unit for live-action scripted programming, as well as Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, which produces unscripted and alternative programming through its three production units: Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures, and Shed Media. She also has oversight of animated programming produced through Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. As of July 2024, the scripted, unscripted, and animated divisions are producing nearly 90 total series, movies, and specials for streaming and cable partners, as well as the broadcast networks and local stations.

Current WBTV scripted series and movies include the Emmy®-winning global hit comedy Ted Lasso, Abbott Elementary, All American, All American: Homecoming, Bookie, The Big Cigar, The Cleaning Lady, Dead Boy Detectives, Emperor of Ocean Park, Found, Night Court, Peacemaker, Presumed Innocent, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, The Sandman, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Shrinking, Superman & Lois, Sweet Tooth, and You. Upcoming series include Bad Monkey, Brilliant Minds, Duster, the Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, The Penguin, Rescue: HI-Surf, and Welcome to Derry, among many others.

Warner Bros. Unscripted Television programs include global hit franchise The Bachelor (including smash new hit The Golden Bachelor, the upcoming spinoff The Golden Bachelorette, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise), Extra, The Jennifer Hudson Show, How Music Got Free, Paris in Love, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, The Real Housewives of New York City, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, The Voice, True Crime News, and the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking competition show, among others.

Animated projects include Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Animaniacs, Batman: Caped Crusader, Batwheels, Craig of the Creek, Creature Commandos, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Gremlins: The Wild Batch, Harley Quinn, Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, My Adventures with Superman, Teen Titans Go!, Tiny Toons Looniversity, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, and Velma, to name just a few.

Prior to Warner Bros., Dungey served as Vice President of Original Series at Netflix. During that time, she played a part in bringing David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to Netflix, as well as championing a number of new overall producing deals with talent, including Regina King, Mara Brock Akil, Bill Prady, Michael Green, and Gina Rodriguez. She shepherded such high-profile series as WBTV’s Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, starring Octavia Spencer; the Hilary Swank starrer Away; and two series from prolific producer Shonda Rhimes: the highly acclaimed hit romantic period drama Bridgerton, and Inventing Anna, a drama inspired by the life of real-life con artist Anna Delvey. Dungey was also involved in the acquisition of Darren Star’s series Emily in Paris, which debuted in October 2020 and was quickly renewed for a second season.

Before that, Dungey served as president of ABC Entertainment, the first Black executive to run a major television network. In that role, she oversaw all development, programming, marketing, and scheduling operations for ABC primetime and late-night. During her tenure, she shepherded a wide variety of successful series, including the hit drama The Good Doctor and the successful return of American Idol. ABC was the most social network on air under her leadership, raising platforms for shows such as black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder and The Goldbergs, and helping reinvigorate long-running series such as Grey’s Anatomy.

She joined the network’s drama development department in June 2009, during which time she developed and launched such hit series as Scandal, Quantico, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., American Crime and Once Upon a Time. Prior to that, she oversaw development and acquisition of drama programming for ABC Studios, where her slate included Shondaland’s Private Practice and CBS’s long-running drama Criminal Minds, among many others.

Dungey’s career in entertainment spans both television and film. She partnered with Pamela Post and formed Dexterity Pictures, a production partnership focused on making both studio and independent films, as well as developing television series. She also served as president of Material, a film production company with a first-look deal at Warner Bros. Prior to that, she served for five years as a Warner Bros. production executive, helping to develop and supervise a diverse range of commercially successful, critically acclaimed films.

Dungey has received many nominations and awards in recognition of her career accomplishments, including being honored with the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, presented by NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) during a special ceremony in June 2022. She was also recognized by Variety as one of its Power of Women: Los Angeles honorees in September 2021, and she was named Television Executive of the Year by Adweek in March 2024.

Dungey graduated magna cum laude from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and serves on the school’s Executive Board. She is a founding board member of Step Up, and a former board member of Children’s Institute. Dungey is also a Los Angeles member of BAFTA and serves on the Board of Governors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Board of Governors for The Paley Center for Media as well as the West Coast Board of Directors for the Peabody Awards.

WGA, DGA, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated writer, director, and producer, Greg Berlanti, is the force behind some of the most creative and acclaimed works in film and television.

He began his career in television as a staff writer on the hit show Dawson’s Creek and became an executive producer and showrunner of the series after only one year on staff. Since then, Berlanti has served as an executive producer on over 45 shows including several of the most inventive and biggest hits on television like “You,” “Found,” “Everwood,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Political Animals,” “Arrow,” “Blindspot,” “The Flash,” “Dead Boy Detectives,” “Riverdale,” “All American,” “The Girls on the Bus,” and “The Flight Attendant,” which has received multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Berlanti has another new series coming out this fall, “Brilliant Minds” starring Zachary Quinto for NBC. For the past few years, Berlanti Productions has had as many as 15 shows on the air at one time — a record-breaking number of shows to air at one time for a tv producer and creator.

Berlanti’s most recent directorial project, Apple Original Films’ Fly Me to the Moon starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, recently premiered in theaters this summer and has captured the hearts of audiences, boasting a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. He made his film directorial debut in 2000 with The Broken Hearts Club and has since directed a number of projects including Life as We Know It and the critically acclaimed film, Love, Simon. Berlanti has produced numerous feature films including the film Atlas, starring Jennifer Lopez, for Netflix; My Policeman for Amazon, starring Harry Styles; HBO’s Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed; HBO Max’s Moonshot; Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s Unpregnant; Shawn Levy’s Free Guy, and Amazon’s hit Red, White and Royal Blue directed by Matthew Lopez. The film division of his company, Berlanti/Schechter Films, has an exclusive first-look feature film deal with Netflix.

Berlanti was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his husband and two children.