Drama Changes Hands At UPN

UPN's chief drama executive is leaving after less than one year at the Enterprise network.

Sonja Piper Dosti, who was hired as senior vice-president of drama development in in August 2002 (story), is set to leave her high-ranking position at UPN this month, according to the Hollywood Reporter. No reason was given for Dosti's departure.

Dosti's replacement is likely to be Recency Television executive Maggie Murphy, who is currently "finalising a deal" to become UPN's senior vice president of drama development, a role she also filled at Regency. Murphy will report to UPN entertainment president Dawn Ostroff and CBS president Les Moonves, who also oversees UPN.

Murphy has nutured several successful television series during her career. While at David E. Kelley Productions she played an active role in several of the uber-producer's Emmy-winning series, including Ally McBeal, The Practice and Chicago Hope. During her tenure at Regency, Murphy developed Fox's new midseason series, Wonderfalls, created by former Star Trek: Voyager scribe Bryan Fuller.

The change in executives could be due to UPN's lack of success in drama development over the past season. While the now-cancelled Haunted and The Twilight Zone were locked in before Sonja Piper Dosti joined the network, midseason replacement Platinum also failed to be renewed. The network also only ordered one new drama pilot for the 2003-2004 season, Jake 2.0, opting instead for the option of a second night of comedy on Tuesdays.

The original Hollywood Reporter article can be found here.

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