Turner executive Michael Wright to join DreamWorks Studios as new CEO

The next chief executive of Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios is coming from the TV industry.

Departing Turner Broadcasting executive Michael Wright will join the film studio as its CEO, starting at the beginning of next year. He will replace current CEO and Co-Chairman Stacey Snider, who will leave the company in January.

Wright is currently the president of programming for the cable channels TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. At DreamWorks Studios, he will report directly to Spielberg. Spielberg’s Amblin Television will remain a separate entity, the company said.

In his more than a decade-long career at Turner, Wright helped put TNT and TBS on the map with such original dramas as “The Closer,” “Falling Skies” and “Men of a Certain Age.” He also helped bring late-night host Conan O’Brien to TBS after the comic’s high-profile exit from NBC.

His departure from Turner comes after the April exit of Turner Entertainment Networks head Steve Koonin.

The appointment comes after DreamWorks Studios, which is a separate entity from publicly traded DreamWorks Animation SKG, has delivered mixed results at the box office with recent releases.

This summer’s “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” starring Helen Mirren, has grossed about $42 million after costing $22 million to make. Meanwhile, the spring release “Need for Speed” spun out in the U.S. with just $43 million in ticket sales, but it grossed almost $160 million overseas.

Wright has worked with Spielberg before on television projects, including “Into the West,” “Falling Skies” and the upcoming TNT police drama “Public Morals.”

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