With the company eliminating his position as Senior EVP of Programming, where he had overseen daytime dramas “Days of our Lives” and “The Young and the Restless” since 2007, veteran Sony Pictures Television executive Steve Kent will be transitioning to become executive in charge of production at “The Young and the Restless.”
According to Deadline, which first reported Kent’s new role, other members of the Sony production team will take over his former responsibilities going forward. In related news, the outlet also reported that another Sony executive, Nina Lederman, would be exiting the company amid a production slowdown impacting Hollywood following last year’s monthslong dual strikes. Lederman, who joined Sony as the head of global scripted development and programming in 2018, will exit the company next month.
News of Kent’s exit was first reported last month by Soap Opera Digest, who at the time noted Kent’s last day in his former role as Friday, April 12, one day after he was seen on the set of “Days of our Lives” during a celebration in honor of the show’s shooting its 15,000th episode which is set to air later this year.
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In addition to overseeing “Days of our Lives” and “The Young and the Restless,” Kent was in charge of the development and production of original local-language productions, including “Outlander,” “Nikola,” and “As If,” along with scripted and unscripted formats such as “Dragon’s Den.”
Kent first joined the Sony family in 1996 when he worked as VP of Production for then-Columbia TriStar Television. During that time, he played a key role in the success of such shows as The WB’s “Dawson’s Creek” and CBS’ “Early Edition.”
Kent first made a name for himself in daytime television working as a producer on the drama series “Capitol.” He later became a supervising producer at the soap opera “Santa Barbara” throughout the show’s run on NBC (1984-1993).