“She is an expert dealmaker who understands that negotiating deals with talent and business partners is the start of long-term relationships.”

— Jon Feltheimer, CEO, Lionsgate

By Alyson Trager

As a self-proclaimed “intellectual snob,” Sandra Stern, vice chairman of Lionsgate Television Group, found her way into the entertainment industry through a rather circuitous path. In college, she studied comparative literature and had a knack for reading and speaking foreign languages, but she wasn’t quite sure what to do with that.

“At a certain point, I realized I actually like to eat three meals a day,” said Stern, and that pushed her to go to law school, where she was surprised by how engaged she was with that work. She landed her first job in Columbia Pictures Television’s legal department, followed by some time at the law firm Bloom, Hergott, Cook, Diemer & Klein LLP.

Stern, though, missed taking lunch breaks on the Warner Bros. lot, where she’d walk around watching actors in their costumes eating on the set of Little House on the Prairie. On top of that, she craved a broader view of the television industry and discovered her passion lay less in client interactions and more in telling stories.

A Calling to Creativity
“I had a well-developed right brain, as well as a left brain, and I was looking for something that would allow me to combine my love of character and story … and my sort of organizational business sense,” Stern said.
Stern hit her stride in 1986 when she was introduced to Jon Feltheimer, who became her mentor, sounding board and, eventually, business partner. Through conversations with Feltheimer over the years, Stern developed a strong confidence in arguing and defending her position on any given issue.
“I’ve been fortunate to work closely with Sandra at three different companies, and I value her as a partner and a friend,” said Feltheimer, now Lionsgate CEO. “She is an expert dealmaker who understands that negotiating deals with talent and business partners is the start of long-term relationships, and her negotiating skills, talent relationships and understanding of where the business is heading have made lasting contributions to our Television Group’s success.”

One of the first deals Stern worked on under Feltheimer at New World Entertainment was also one of the most innovative at the time. Pushed by what she called “complete ignorance,” Stern forged the first international co-production by a U.S. television network when it became clear that one of the shows ordered — the 1990s version of Zorro, which aired on The Family Channel — didn’t have enough funding.
“I went to school in France so I told Jon, ‘Maybe I can find some money there,’” Stern recalled. “And Jon said, ‘That is a great idea.’ It was actually a terrible idea, but it turned out I could, and I did.” Stern drew up the co-finance agreement in France, applied for extra funding to film in Spain and came back to the U.S. with a check for $2.8 million. This problem-solving mindset characterized Stern’s knack for creating “win-win” deals at Lionsgate Television Group. For Stern, making deals is all about honesty, open communication and a strong partnership, not rivalry.

Forging Relationships
“Every deal we make is the start of a relationship … and I don't know any relationship that starts with one person feeling that he's being taken advantage of,” Stern said. Going into each deal, Stern asks her potential partners what they need and what is most important to them. That attitude, along with consistent check-ins and catch-ups, allows Stern and Lionsgate to maintain long-term relationships with clients, like for Weeds, which ran on Showtime for eight seasons from 2005-2012, and Orange Is the New Black on Netflix, which streamed on Netflix for seven seasons from 2013-2019.

Though she may give a different answer if asked again, Stern cited Orange is the New Black as her favorite project to work on. Back when Netflix was still in the early stages of offering original content, Stern sat down with then-VP of original content Cindy Holland for a conversation based, more or less, on the question, “Well, what do you think?” It’s these ultra-collaborative dialogues that keep Stern’s partnerships strong, landing her deals even when the industry goes through growing pains.

“I think the challenge and the motivation is to do better work than anybody else,” Stern said of her drive to continue pushing into the future of television. “How can we be smarter and more thoughtful and come up with something that everybody else is not doing?”