Hollywood, CA -- Shawn Levy, the award-winning director and producer behind the blockbuster Night at the Museum franchise, last year's Oscar-nominated sci-fi darling Arrival and the globe-girdling Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things is entering into a multi-year exclusive deal with Netflix to produce television series.
In addition, Levy has named Josh Barry as President of 21 Laps Television. Barry is a television producer and creative executive with 15+ years executive experience in the entertainment industry including work at studio, network, and as an executive producer.
Netflix and Levy's production company 21 Laps first joined forces on Stranger Things, the popular and acclaimed series that premiered in 2016 and recently earned 18 Emmy nominations, with five wins. Levy, along with show creators The Duffer Brothers, 21 Laps' Dan Cohen and fellow executive producer Iain Paterson, earned the 2017 Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama in this year's Producers Guild Awards for Stranger Things.
Said Levy, I don't know any other company that would have taken a chance on a show about kids and inter-dimensional monsters, created by young unknown twin brothers and produced by a movie director's production company. Netflix did, and they bet big, and it's been truly thrilling to take this wild ride with such exceptional partners. My aspiration for 21 Laps has always been to create content that is eclectic, bold, humanist and surprising. As such, Netflix is the perfect home for us and our collaborators. My partners Dan Levine and Dan Cohen, along with President of Television Josh Barry and the rest of our 21 Laps colleagues and I, can't wait to craft and usher more singular shows into the world with this empowering platform and partner.
Shawn and 21 Laps are courageous and adept storytellers who lean into risk both narratively and by nurturing great young talent, said Cindy Holland, Vice President, Original Content for Netflix. They have an admirable track record for telling ambitious stories that have incredible heart and which resonate with audiences all over the world.
Until he left earlier this year, Josh Barry spent six years as the Head of Television and a Partner at THE FIRM, spearheading their development and production across all major networks and studios. In 2016/2017, he executive produced three series: Salem, on its third season for WGN/Fox21; the comedy Haters Back Off starring Miranda Sings for Netflix; and the ABC/Sony fall 2016 series Notorious.
He previously worked within the ABC Entertainment Group as a creative executive in various capacities for ten years. He was the Head of Drama Development and Current Programming at ABC Studios, serving as Senior Vice President. Prior to that he worked at ABC Network and Touchstone Television. While in the ABC Entertainment Group, he worked on such shows as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Alias, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, among many others.
He graduated from Brown University in 1995 and lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Philip Matthys.
About Shawn Levy/21 Laps
While Levy is best known as a director of hit comedies and family tentpoles, whose films have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, his production company 21 Laps Entertainment has emerged in recent years as one of the most prolific and eclectic in the industry, with a slate of film and TV projects encompassing multiple genres and collaborating with the most renowned filmmakers.
Along with Stranger Things, 21 Laps' other recent productions include The Spectacular Now; Why Him; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; and Fist Fight. Levy and 21 Laps also produced the hit comedy series Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen which aired for six seasons on ABC.
As a director, Levy has helmed all three installments of the blockbuster Night at the Museum franchise, as well as the hit films Date Night, Real Steel, Cheaper By The Dozen, This Is Where I Leave You and Pink Panther . He is set to direct Uncharted, the long-awaited live-action feature film starring Tom Holland, based on the award-winning PlayStation video game for Sony Pictures. Upcoming 2018 releases from 21 Laps include Darkest Minds for Fox, from director Jennifer Yuh Nelson; Kodachrome starring Ed Harris, Elizabeth Olsen and Jason Sudeikis for Netflix; and Kin for Lionsgate, starring James Franco, Zoe Kravitz, Jack Reynor and Dennis Quaid.
About Netflix
Netflix is the worlds leading internet entertainment service with over 109 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Hollywood, CA -- Shawn Levy, the award-winning director and producer behind the blockbuster Night at the Museum franchise, last year's Oscar-nominated sci-fi darling Arrival and the globe-girdling Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things is entering into a multi-year exclusive deal with Netflix to produce television series. 
