Biography

Sapan is the President of Sapan Studio, a boutique media, film, and television production company, and investment company he founded in 2022.

Previously, Sapan served as the Chief Executive Officer of AMC Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) (“AMC”) from 1996 to September 2021. Sapan joined AMC in 1987 and was named its Chief Executive Officer in 1995 and served as Executive Vice Chairman from September 2021 to December 2022. In June 2011, Sapan led the company’s successful spin-off from Cablevision Systems Corporation, as AMC began trading as a separate public company on the NASDAQ stock exchange. During his tenure at AMC, Sapan evolved the business from a collection of U.S. cable channels showcasing classic movies to a company known for original programming. Sapan is credited with building some of television’s most influential entertainment shows, including AMC’s The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, BBC AMERICA’s Killing Eve,” IFC’s Portlandia and Documentary Now! and SundanceTV’s Rectify and Top of the Lake. A champion of new voices, Sapan has brought independent film to wide audiences through IFC Films, supporting the early work of directors such as Lena Dunham, Barry Jenkins, Richard Linklater, Mira Nair, Christopher Nolan, and Lynn Shelton. In 2005, Sapan opened the brick-and-mortar IFC Center. Sapan also moved AMC into the targeted streaming business early on, launching Sundance Now in 2014 and the horror-centric Shudder in 2015. In 2018, AMC acquired the urban-oriented ALLBLK and British-focused Acorn TV, and in 2020, it launched AMC+.

Sapan has received honors including an induction into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, NATPE’s Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, the Paley Prize for Innovation and Excellence, and The Media Institute’s Freedom of Speech Award for his contributions to the advancement and protection of free speech. Sapan serves on the boards of the American Film Institute, the Museum of the Moving Image, New York Public Radio, the New School, People for the American Way, and Haiti Air Ambulance.

Sapan is the author of four books: Cable TV, published by Putnam, The Big Picture: America in Panorama, and Third Act, both from Princeton Architectural Press, and RX, a book of poetry published by Red Hen Press in 2023.

Sapan is member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.