
Speaker Biography
Josh Sapan
Tuesday, March 4th, 2025
Josh Sapan was CEO of AMC Networks for 25 years as the company became known for groundbreaking TV shows including Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, Portlandia, The Night Manager and Top of the Lake, and independent films such as Boys Don’t Cry, Y Tu Mama Tambien and Boyhood.
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Under his leadership the company, previously named Rainbow Media, grew revenue from under $100M from when Josh joined to over $3B. It became publicly traded on NASDAQ in 2011, changing its name to AMC Networks.
With his departure from AMC in 2023, Josh launched Sapan Studio, a boutique film, television and media investment company. In partnership with IFC Films, Sapan’s venture worked on The Taste of Things, starring Juliet Binoche, which earned Tràn Anh Hùng Best Director honors at the Cannes Film Festival, The Disappearance of Shere Hite, a documentary about the groundbreaking sex researcher, and Ghostlight which won audience awards at several film festivals.
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Upcoming releases from Sapan Studio and IFC Films include Hot Milk which shot in Greece starring Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw, The Luckiest Man in America based on the real-life scandal around the game show “Press Your Luck” and Armand, the Norwegian entry for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards.
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On the philanthropic side, in 2019, Josh partnered with the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) to establish Marvels of Media, an annual event recognizing the work of autistic media makers. The event is now expanding to partner venues, including the Jacob Burns Film Center in Westchester County, Gray Area in San Francisco, Austin Film Society, and the Victoria and Albert Museum overseas.
Sapan is on the boards of The American Film Institute, New School University, New York Public Radio, The Museum of the Moving Image, The Public Theatre and People for the American Way.
He is the author of four books: “Cable TV” published by Putnam, “The Big Picture: America in Panorama,” and “Third Act,” both from PA Press/Chronicle Books and “RX,” a book of poetry published by Red Hen Press.
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