Sirens Media adds to development team with Purner, Kaunitz

ITV America-owned US prodco Sirens Media has bolstered its development team with the addition of two new executives, Melissa Purner and Tavi Kaunitz.

Melissa Purner

Veteran producer Purner has joined as the company’s VP of development, while Kaunitz has been hired as manager of development.

Purner has a diverse background in production and development for both unscripted and scripted content across all formats and genres.

Most recently, she developed, sold and produced HBO Max’s Happily Ever Avatar, which debuted as part of HBO Max’s launch, as well as an upcoming unscripted series for Snapchat.

She was previously head of digital, social media and unscripted at Mark Wahlberg’s Leverage Management, where she developed various projects and served as social producer for HBO’s Ballers.

Purner has also worked on the development teams at MTV, WME, Herzog & Company and Endemol, where she helped launch Endemol Digital Studios.

Tavi Kaunitz

Kaunitz, meanwhile, previously spent several years on the talent and development team at Comedy Central, working across the network’s programming line-up, including Drunk History, Corporate and Not Safe with Nikki Glaser.

Before Comedy Central, Kaunitz worked at The Gersh Agency, overseeing personal appearances and live events for high-profile talent.

Overseen by president Mioshi Hill since the beginning of this year, Sirens Media is behind shows including Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Snapchat’s Honestly Loren and Nikita Unfiltered.