Katie Isaacson is the Senior Director of Development for CNN Original Series. Isaacson joined CNN in 2016 and is responsible for cultivating relationships within the creative community and developing original programming across all CNN platforms. She works closely with the wider CNN Original Series team to develop and produce series such as Emmy Award winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy and oversees US/UK international co-productions such as Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight (BBC/CNN).
Responsibilities / Shows I oversee
Responsible for developing, producing, and overseeing a diverse slate of premium non-fiction series for CNN Original Series from pitch through greenlight, production and premiere. Devise the creative filter, programming priorities and development strategy across CNN with senior leadership. Establish and maintain relationships to source ideas, pitches and IP from domestic and international directors, producers, journalists, sales agents, and distributors. Oversees international co-productions.
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain, Murdochs Empire of Influence, Secrets & Spies: A Nuclear Game (A BBC/ CNN Co-production), Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight (A BBC/CNN Co-Production)
Would like to meet
Looking to meet with producers who excel at the following content: Historical, Pop Culture, Talent-Led, Travel, Food, Investigative. Limited and franchise documentary series; ideally 3–6-hour long episodes. Series episodes can be standalone, anthology style as well as continuing stories told across multiple episodes.
Our series can be narrated or utilize a more immersive documentary style. They are archive and interview driven, and when appropriate series can employ impressionistic and cinematic recreation.
The tone should be journalistic and distinctive, yet entertaining and commercially appealing. Our programming provides historical and cultural perspectives to inform how viewers see current events and view the world. It has commercial appeal and an ability to go deeper into stories, widening audience perspectives. This includes captivating historical events, iconic biographies, journalistic investigations, global immersive travelogues, entertaining and nostalgic pop culture stories with cultural context and perspective.
We also lean into CNN viewers’ interests that go beyond news but still have meaningful connections to society and culture– food, music, pop culture, travel, and entertainment. We seek to find new, diverse talent beyond the boundaries of news, and talent with an established voice and unique perspective on the world.