Liz Gateley, who created series including MTV’s Laguna Beach, is launching her own production company.
Gateley has left Spotify to launch Damsel Media. The company will specialize in programming for Gen Z women, a fitting move for the exec behind series such as Teen Mom, Teen Wolf and You.
She was most recently a creative consultant at Spotify, having previously been Head of Development, Originals at Spotify Studios, which she joined in 2019. At the audio platform, she was behind series including Wind of Change, which asked whether the CIA wrote the Scorpions famous power ballad and The System: The Case of Kevin Keith with Kim Kardashian. She oversaw the partnership with Warner Bros. and DC, which led to Batman Unburied and Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind.
She also helped Spotify move into video with What Now? With Trevor Noah and was behind Spotify Pictures, which was involved in adaptations such as RapCaviar Presents with Hulu, and The Horror of Dolores Roach for Amazon.
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Before joining Spotify, Gateley spent three years as Head of Programming at Lifetime, which is where he worked on Penn Badgley serial killer thriller You. She also ran DiGa with co-founder Tony DiSanto, where she worked on the Scream series.
She was also Head of Development at MTV, where he created Laguna Beach and spinoffs including The Hills and The City. She built MTV’s scripted business with series such as Teen Wolf, the network’s first drama, and comedies including Awkward and Hard Times of RJ Berger.
Damsel Media is already working on two projects with 32 Flavors, the company run by Vanderpump Rules exec producer Alex Baskin, and The Valley producer Haymaker East.
“I am so grateful for the past 6 years at Spotify, not only because of the talented people I got to work with, but the tremendous amount of learning while developing projects with incredible creators within a fast-growing, dynamic company,” said Gateley. “Now it’s time for me to return to my love of longform storytelling and my passion for making premium content for young audiences with Damsel Media.”
Gateley is repped by CAA and Tara Senior & Todd Weinstein at Weinstein/Senior.