Chernin Entertainment Expands Film Team

Chernin Entertainment, the prolific independent film and TV producer founded by former News Corp. chairman Peter Chernin, has expanded its in-house film team.

Under movies chief David Ready, the film unit has had big wins this year in theaters (“Backrooms”) and on streaming (Netflix’s “The Last House”), and will continue to scale its slate.

To fulfill that effort is new hire Marisa Paiva, who joins as an executive vice president of film. Paiva got her start Fox 2000 and spent over 13 years at the studio, working on literary adaptations like “Water for Elephants” and “Life of Pi.” She later oversaw the award-winning “Hidden Figures” and “The Woman in the Window.” She joined 3000 Pictures in 2019, developing “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” for Netflix and spearheading high-profile acquisitions like “Broken Country,” which Paiva will executive produce with Hello Sunshine.

Paiva will join fellow EVP Brady Fujikawa, who joined the studio last year from Lionsgate. Fujikawa rises from his previous title of development and production lead. He oversaw the hot package “High Side,” which will put Timothée Chalamet in a motocross seat for director James Mangold. Fujikawa is also shepherding “Palm Grove,” starring Kate Hudson and Ana de Armas and directed by Kornél Mundruczó; and “One Month Mark,” a Jennifer Lawrence rom-com set up at Apple. He was previously at Good Universe (“Blockers,” “Good Boys”), and helped expand the John Wick universe at Lionsgate.

Meanwhile, Samantha Nisenboim has been named senior vice president of film. Her producer credits include “The Lego Batman Movie,” The Tomorrow War” and “Renfield.” She is currently producing two feature films at Chernin, including the Netflix thriller “The Big Fix” starring Mark Wahlberg and Riz Ahmed. 

Finally, Max Gains has been named creative executive. He began his career at Paramount before joining 21 Laps, where he spent six years working his way up from Shawn Levy’s assistant to CE. His projects included “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “The Adam Project” and “Free Guy.”

Ready told Variety that the company has “built a strong foundation and a slate we really believe in, and now we have the team to build out our next chapter. Marisa, Brady, Samantha, and Max are the kind of executives you want on your team – smart, relentless, deeply connected and driven by great material.”

Chernin recently inked a new multi-year, first-look feature film deal with Apple Studios. In January, Mediawan announced an agreement to acquire Chernin parent The North Road Company. The combined entity will have major creative hubs across five continents and capabilities spanning all genres and formats.