HBO doc chief Nevins steps down

US premium cablenet HBO has announced that its veteran head of documentaries Sheila Nevins is stepping down.

Sheila Nevins

Nevins, who is president of HBO documentary films and oversees HBO, HBO2 and Cinemax, will leave her role early in the new year, although she is not retiring.

Nevins started at the company in 1979 as director of documentary programming and has been behind a multitude of award-winning non-fiction content – 26 of the projects she has been involved in went on to win Academy Awards.

In 1982, she left the network to start her own production company, Spinning Reels, but returned to HBO in 1986 as VP of documentary programming. She was promoted to president of documentary and family programming in 2004.

Some of the titles Nevins has overseen during her tenure include Citizenfour, You Don’t Have to Die and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.