EXCLUSIVE: After five and a half years as President of Danny Strong Productions, veteran producer and executive Mandy Safavi has joined Kang & Co Entertainment as President of TV and Film Development, Deadline has learned.
In her new role, Safavi will oversee the company’s expanding slate across both mediums under its overall deal at Amazon MGM Studios.
Said Kang & Co’s founder, writer-producer Angela Kang, in a statement to Deadline: “Mandy has dedicated her career to championing writers and I could not be more thrilled to have her come on board to work at my side. Her exceptional taste and track record of achievement as a producer will be invaluable as we continue building out an exciting, curated slate of projects with our partners at Amazon MGM Studios.”
Commented Safavi: “I am excited to have joined Angela and the team at Kang & Co Entertainment, along with our partners at Amazon MGM Studios. Angela’s vision for elevated, character-driven stories is truly inspiring, and I am eager to help bring those compelling narratives to life. I look forward to collaborating on projects that will resonate deeply with audiences and set a new standard for engaging storytelling.”
During her time at Danny Strong Productions, Safavi played a pivotal role in shaping one of the company’s biggest recent hits, co-executive producing the critically acclaimed limited series Dopesick for Hulu, which received 14 Emmy nominations in 2022. Most recently, she produced the Paramount+ docuseries Mafia Spies and facilitated the sale of the feature project Becoming Houdini to Walt Disney Studios.
Safavi’s other previous executive experience includes serving as President of Production at Melissa Rosenberg’s Tall Girls Productions (ABC Studios), EVP and Executive Producer at Alex Kurtzman and the late Roberto Orci’s KO Paper Products, and SVP of Development and Production at Sid Ganis’ Out of the Blue Entertainment. Additional producing credits include Ender’s Game, Locke & Key, The Art of More, and the Emmy-winning Transformers Prime. Safavi began her executive career at Lynda Obst Productions and got her start at Mirage Enterprises under Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella.
Kang is perhaps best known for her work as showrunner of AMC’s The Walking Dead and as an executive producer on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, as well as her writing on FX’s Terriers. Most recently, she served as showrunner of Silk: Spider Society for Amazon MGM Studios. Kang launched her Kang & Co Entertainment banner, focused on smart and elevated popcorn entertainment, in 2020.
