Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your nonfiction development pipeline grow? By combining the “nimbleness and autonomy of a standalone banner with the reach, resources and relationships of [a] global independent studio,” apparently, according to a Tuesday press release.
Mary Lisio and her employer, Fifth Season, are launching Quite Contrary Pictures, it announced, which will house all of Fifth Season’s unscripted and documentary programming under a multiyear deal. Lisio will serve as Quite Contrary’s president; executive producer Elissa Johnson is joining her in the endeavor, a spinoff of the former Endeavor Content.
“Mary is a singular executive,” Fifth Season CEO Graham Taylor said. “Her expertise and vision are the reason we’ve been able to build the impressive nonscripted slate we have today. Establishing a new banner for that work empowers her and the entire Fifth Season team to keep scaling our nonscripted storytelling, while also providing the flexibility needed to navigate this fast-paced and evolving sector. I’m eager to see what we accomplish together next.”
Added Lisio: “Quite Contrary is a natural evolution of the work we’ve done at Fifth Season for years. Moving forward, we’ll be better equipped than ever to create captivating nonscripted and documentary content for wide audiences. I’m grateful for the continued partnership of Graham, [longtime collaborator] Ariel [Richter] and everyone at Fifth Season, and I look forward to working together to build on the great things we’ve already achieved together.”
Lisio won an Emmy for History Channel feature Gettysburg; she was nominated for Emmys for both Nat Geo’s Killing Jesus and Killing Kennedy. Lisio’s résumé includes posts at Blumhouse Television, Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and R.J. Cutler’s Actual Reality Pictures.
Fifth Season’s Quite Contrary’s next big documentary is probably the upcoming Earth, Wind, & Fire feature from Questlove. The studio previously made McCartney 3, 2, 1 (Hulu), Being Mary Tyler Moore (HBO) and Sean Penn’s Superpower (Paramount+).
Fifth Season is probably best known for a work of fiction: Apple TV’s Severance. The studio recently sold Apple the production rights for about $70 million.
