Tanya Lopez

SVP, Original Movies, Lifetime

Lopez has single-handedly delivered key talent to the recent Lifetime movie development slate, focusing on content that fits within the network’s new brand mantra “The Fempire” and keeping it a top destination for original movies across demos. Five of the top movies on ad-supported cable in 2015 were Lifetime movies —and all directed by women. Among her recent talent recruits are Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams and Janet Jackson. This past year, she also built A+E Nets’ first BBC co-productions with the multipart series “War and Peace” and “And Then There Were None.” And she helped create Lifetime’s popular “unauthorized” franchise with “The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story,” “The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story” and others. The unpredictability of viewers is top of mind for Lopez. “No cable network can rest on one hit. The audience goes to what they want to watch, not the network they want to watch in on.”

What advice would you give your 13-year-old self?

Don’t let the negative voices in your head make you feel bad about yourself, rather celebrate your uniqueness.

Which current programming best reflects the kind of women’s roles you like to see and why?

“UnReal” shows two women who are extremely successful at their jobs but messy in other parts of their lives.  I love that example of for women and for audiences.  Women are anything but the same.

What’s been the biggest story in cable this year?

Biggest story in cable this year for me is the unpredictability of the viewing audiences.   No cable network can rest on one hit. The audience goes to what they want to watch, not the network they want to watch in on.