Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Benedict Carver has been hired as SVP Filmed Entertainment at Entertainment One. He will be responsible for ramping up eOne’s output of film and TV product. Carver reports to eOne Television dramatic programming president Noreen Halpern and Lara Thompson, eOne’s SVP Worldwide Acquisitions.

Carver, a former colleague of mine back at Daily Variety, left journalism to become Screen Gems’ SVP of acquisitions and co-productions. There, he was involved in putting together successes that included the Resident Evil, Underworld and Hostel franchises, as well as bringing in highbrow films that included Girlfight, El Crimen del Padre and The Squid and the Whale. Carver spent the past few years partnered with X-Men screenwriter David Hayter in Dark Hero Studios. They made a first-look TV deal with eOne in March 2010, and Carver became more involved with that company and decided to jump back into the executive ranks. He and Hayter continue to work on numerous projects together that include the TV series Push and the Anne McCaffrey feature adaptation Dragonriders of Pern, which has Hayter attached to write. EOne has Canadian rights to Hayter’s directorial debut Wolves, a thriller that will shoot later this year with funding from TF1. Steve Hoban is producing that feature and Carver is executive producer. Carver’s other producing credits include Doomsday and Tekken.

“I’ve known Benedict since his days at Screen Gems and I have always been impressed by the combination of creative skills and business acumen that he brings to every project,” said eOne Filmed Entertainment president Patrice Theroux.

Carver, who starts the job immediately, said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to do what I love doing best, putting together films and TV shows, backed by a rapidly growing but very user-friendly entertainment organization. It has been an amazing run with David, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with him on the many projects that we have together.”