Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden steps down, Maureen Polo takes top job

Sarah Harden is stepping down from her role as CEO of Hello Sunshine after seven years, with head of direct-to-consumer Maureen Polo elevated to the top position at Reese Witherspoon’s company.

Maureen Polo

In her new position, Polo will work alongside president of film and TV Lauren Neustadter and Corey Shepardson, who has been elevated to chief operating officer while remaining as chief financial officer.

Harden, who was named as the permanent CEO in early 2018, will stay on at Hello Sunshine in an advisory capacity into 2026 to support the leadership transition.

Polo’s promotion to CEO comes after she joined the company in 2022 having led marketing strategy and solutions for WarnerMedia’s entertainment brands including HBO Max, TBS, truTV, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network. Before that, she was the general manager at Fullscreen.

“Sarah Harden’s exceptional leadership and unwavering support laid the foundation for Hello Sunshine’s success,” said company founder Witherspoon, adding that Harden’s “belief in my vision made my wildest dreams for this company a reality.”

Harden said: “I know this mission will continue forward under the leadership of Maureen and the rest of our incredible team, which fills me with great pride.”

Hello Sunshine is currently working on new seasons of The Morning Show and The Last Thing He Told Me as well as Lucky, a reimagining of Legally Blonde, all for Apple TV+, in addition to Elle (Prime Video). The US company’s other credits include Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu), Surface (Apple TV+), Truth Be Told (Apple TV+), From Scratch (Netflix) and Big Little Lies (HBO).

Sarah Harden

On the unscripted side, Hello Sunshine’s projects include Family Recipe Showdown (Food Network/Hulu), Women’s Sports Now (Roku), F1: The Academy (Netflix), Surf Girls (Amazon Prime) and My Kind of Country (Apple TV+).

The company has also continued to grow its Reese’s Book Club initiative, helmed by Polo, over the past three years. According to Hello Sunshine, Reese’s Book Club has selected 116 books since 2017, with more than 90 landing on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Hello Sunshine was acquired by Blackstone-backed media investment company Candle Media in 2021 for around US$900m. Last year, Candle Media, which is led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, reorganised its live-action assets under a new banner, Candle Studios, which Harden led as CEO, in addition to her CEO role at Hello Sunshine.

Polo said: “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from Sarah for more than a decade, and I’m excited to lead Hello Sunshine into this next chapter.”