Pivot moves to replace Shapiro

Participant Media has shuffled the management team at its US cablenet Pivot following the exit of president Evan Shapiro.

Shapiro, a former president of Sundance Channel, joined Participant in April 2012 to lead the US film producer’s move into television.

He subsequently oversaw the launch of millennial-skewing Pivot in summer 2013 but is now leaving to pursue other opportunities, according to the network.

Kent Rees, who was previously exec VP of marketing for the channel, has been promoted to general manager and will oversee day-to-day operations for the cablenet.

Rees has been at Pivot since it launched in August last year and was part of the team that agreed the deal to secure its first scripted series, Fortitude, slated to air in 2015.

He previously spent time at US cablenets Current TV and IFC TV before Pivot, and has also worked for ABC and VH1. He will now report to Jim Berk, CEO of Participant.

Pivot has ordered more than 300 hours of original content since its launch, including American Rewind and a series of documentaries created in a partnership with Univision.