Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke steps down

Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon MGM Studios, is stepping down from her role and will instead focus on producing, according to an internal memo obtained by Deadline. In the memo, Mike Hopkins, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios head, tells employees that the company will not fill Salke’s role as part of efforts to “flatten our leadership structure.”

“As I’ve been considering my next chapter, I’ve always been searching for that moment where I was positive that our work had set up Amazon MGM Studios for even more success in the long term,” Salke says in the memo. “When I look at the teams we’ve put in place, our amazing leaders, and the incredible slate of films and shows we’ve got in the pipeline, I realized now is that moment.”

However, a separate report from Deadline paints the situation differently, saying Salke’s “inability to mesh with the gatekeepers of the James Bond movies might well have sealed her fate.” Amazon had been locked in a stalemate with Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson following its acquisition of MGM, but the duo agreed to give up creative control of the franchise in February. As noted by Deadline, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos “took notice” following The Wall Street Journal’s report suggesting that Broccoli clashed with Salke.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.