Yahoo News Max Hollman Joins David Bernad’s Middle Child Pictures Under New Company’s TV Deal With HBO & A24
EXCLUSIVE: Max Hollman, a rising star drama executive at HBO, has left the premium cable network to join Middle Child Pictures, the film and TV company launched recently by David Bernad (The White Lotus, Jury Duty). Hollman will continue to work with HBO as he sets off to run television for Middle Child Pictures as Producer/Executive through a first-look TV deal the company has signed with HBO and A24.
Under that pact, HBO will get first crack at Middle Child Pictures’ TV development, with A24 serving as the studio on projects that the network takes in. For shows that don’t go to HBO, A24 can come on board and sell them elsewhere.
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Hollman, who started his career as an assistant in the television department at CAA, had been at HBO for almost eight years, rising from assistant to coordinator, manager, director and, most recently, VP, drama programming. During his tenure, he worked on such series as Succession, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, Industry, Irma Vep, Watchmen and My Brilliant Friend.
Bernad and Hollman have a lot in common. Both of them hail from Washington D.C. where they went to rival high schools years apart. And both of their careers have been closely associated with HBO. Through his collaboration with Mike White, which goes back 18 years, Bernad has executive produced White’s HBO series Enlightened and now The White Lotus, as well as recent HBO limited series White House Plumbers.
However, the duo’s paths had not crossed until Bernad’s agents at CAA suggested Hollman for the TV executive job at his new company. Bernad, who already had met with a number of candidates, had heard great things about the young HBO executive and the two quickly hit it off.
“As we set out to expand Middle Child Pictures, I am so fortunate to be joined by Max, who had an extraordinary experience working at HBO with some of the best writers in television,” Bernad said. “I’m excited to work together to build out the company and our efforts in television.”
In addition to Hollman’s hire, Middle Child Pictures also has just promoted Kayla Goldberg to Creative Executive. She most recently served as Bernad’s assistant.
Bernad is an Emmy nominee in both the Outstanding Drama Series category for White’s The White Lotus and in the Outstanding Comedy Series field for Amazon Freevee’s breakout Jury Duty, on which he had worked for four years.
Before launching Middle Child — named after Bernad being a middle child while also exemplifying the scrappy, self-starter mentality of the company — he was partnered with director Ruben Fleischer in The District, which was behind such series as NBC’s Superstore, Freeform’s The Bold Type and ABC’s Stumptown.
On the feature side, Bernad is in post-production on Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan. His previous credits include Bad Trip, The Mule, Unicorn Store and Uncharted.
“I’m thrilled to join David at his new company. His track record speaks for itself. From recent hits The White Lotus and Jury Duty to prior successes like Bad Trip and Superstore, I’ve long admired David’s taste for buzzy, provocative stories, and his scrappy entrepreneurial spirit,” Hollman said. “After nearly eight years at HBO, where I cut my teeth on some of the best drama series of the last decade and learned from the top executives in the business, I had an itch to be scrappy and entrepreneurial and make a move to the producing side of the business. I couldn’t be more excited to bring my experience and relationships to help grow Middle Child Pictures.”
Middle Child Pictures is repped by CAA and Tom Collier at Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
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