Samie Kim Falvey to Head Imagine TV as Francie Calfo Sets Production Pact (EXCLUSIVE)

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Samie Kim Falvey is poised to be promoted to chairman of Imagine Television as the unit’s longtime leader Francie Calfo eyes a transition to a production deal with the company.

Falvey, an alumnus of ABC and AwesomenessTV, joined Television as president in October 2017. Calfo left ABC to join Imagine Television as president in July 2010 and was promoted in 2017 to chairman. It’s understood that Imagine Entertainment chiefs Ron Howard and Brian Grazer opted for a change at a time of rapid growth for the company overall but that both are eager to keep Calfo in the family as a producer.

A rep for Imagine declined to comment.

On Calfo’s watch, Imagine TV has produced such hits as Fox’s “Empire” and Nat Geo’s “Genius” anthology series. Other series include Fox’s “Shots Fired,” FX’s “The Bastard Executioner” and NBC’s “The Playboy Club.”

Falvey was a development executive at ABC from 2006 until she left to join AwesomenessTV in 2016 to head a short form mobile content venture that never panned out. At ABC, Falvey helped shepherd “Modern Family,” “Black-ish,” “Fresh Off the Boat” and a number of other comedies.

Imagine Television at present is home to the Fox drama “Empire” and the upcoming Fox sudser “Filthy Rich.” It is also producing a new season of “Genius” for Nat Geo with Aretha Franklin in the spotlight, the CBS All Access drama “Why Women Kill” and the Hulu documentary “Wu-Tang: An American Saga.”