Chris Albrecht
Chris Albrecht is an industry leader in the modern-day business of pay television with a number of landmark achievements. Currently, he oversees Legendary Global, a joint venture formed with Legendary Entertainment, focused on developing, financing and producing premium scripted television for the global market. The venture leverages the collective relationships of the partners and Legendary’s rich resources to create partnerships with international producers, platforms and buyers across the globe.
Legendary Global is currently in development on multiple projects including Robert Whiting’s book Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan, with Emmy® award winner and Academy® award nominee Terence Winter set to write the pilot; two seasons of an untitled, Hindi-language project from Vikram Motwane; and has entered into a partnership with Anxo Rodriguez’s ESPotlight to produce multiple projects a year including La Treintena, a feel-good dramedy written and directed by Mireia Noguera and co-written by Marta Vives.
Prior to Legendary Global, Albrecht served as president & chief executive officer of Starz, where he successfully reinvented the premium pay TV network. Under his leadership beginning in January 2010, Starz was transformed into an original programming powerhouse with dynamic global businesses anchored by brand-defining original programming franchises. Albrecht also introduced a state-of-the-art, direct-to-consumer STARZ app and aggressive OTT partnerships that leveraged STARZ Original series and propelled growth in domestic subscribers by more than 50%.
Upon joining Starz, Albrecht led the evolution of the Starz premium pay TV business with an aggressive plan to dramatically increase the company’s investment in proprietary and licensed original programming. Through financial discipline and creative partnerships with international content partners, he elevated Starz globally with scripted series including Power, Outlander, American Gods, Vida, The Girlfriend Experience, Black Sails, Ash vs Evil Dead, and Now Apocalypse. In 2015, under Albrecht, Starz made a bold OTT investment in the MENA region with the launch of STARZ Play Arabia that remains the leading the OTT service in the region and marked the company’s first-ever subscribers outside of the United States. He later oversaw STARZPLAY launches and joint ventures throughout Canada, Europe and Latin America.
Albrecht led Starz through its January 2013 spin away from then-parent company Liberty Media into an independent public company and shepherded the company’s sale to Lionsgate for $4.4 billion in 2017 and left Starz in February 2019.
Prior to Starz, Albrecht was the president of IMG Global Media, heading the company’s diverse businesses including global sports production operations, global rights acquisitions and digital media enterprises.
Previously he was the chairman and chief executive Officer of HBO, and president of HBO original programming. He transformed the company from a movie focused television service into a worldwide leader in original programming. His tenure at HBO was noted for changing the television landscape by creating critically acclaimed series, including Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, Band of Brothers, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, along with dozens of other programmes.
As president of HBO Independent Productions, Albrecht guided the development and production of comedy series for distribution, including Martin and Everybody Loves Raymond. Under his leadership, HBO developed, produced and released numerous theatrical films, including MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, MARIA FULL OF GRACE, AMERICAN SPLENDOR and SEX AND THE CITY.