Jay Sures

Jay Sures

Jay Sures is an American television executive and producer known for senior leadership at United Talent Agency and for producing scripted and unscripted television across Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and traditional NBCUniversal networks. He has navigated relationships with high-profile talent including Jimmy Fallon, Amy Schumer, Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Kevin Hart, and has engaged with studios such as Warner Bros. Television, Sony Pictures Television, 20th Television, and Paramount Television Studios. Sures’s work intersects with major industry events like the Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, SAG-AFTRA strike, and the Writers Guild of America negotiations.

Early life and education

Sures was born into a family with deep roots in the entertainment industry and grew up amid the Los Angeles milieu that included proximity to Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Hollywood, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He attended local schools before pursuing higher education at institutions connected to media and business networks; contemporaries and alumni from schools such as University of Southern California, UCLA, New York University, Columbia University, and Syracuse University commonly populate executive ranks including agencies like Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor, where Sures’s peers have also trained. Early associations placed him in contact with agents and managers from firms like ICM Partners, Gersh, and boutique companies advising talent such as CAA veterans and executives formerly at Endeavor.

Career

Sures’s career trajectory moved from agent-level work to senior leadership at United Talent Agency, where he served as a board member and as Co-President of the agency’s television department, interacting with counterparts at WME and CAA. He brokered deals with streaming executives at Netflix chiefs and with studio heads at WarnerMedia and The Walt Disney Company, negotiating package deals and first-look agreements for creators represented by agencies such as Innovative Artists and Paradigm Talent Agency. His role required collaboration with showrunners and creators including Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, Lena Dunham, Vince Gilligan, and Joss Whedon, as well as participation in industry bodies like the Television Academy and trade organizations connected to the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America. Sures also worked on corporate strategy during mergers and acquisitions involving Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, ViacomCBS, and Discovery, Inc..

Notable productions and credits

Across scripted and unscripted programming, Sures has credits tied to projects developed or packaged for networks and streamers including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, FX, Showtime, and HBO. He was involved in packaging talent for late-night franchises such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and specials featuring comedians like Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Jerry Seinfeld. Sures’s production reach touched genre series connected to creators like David E. Kelley, Aaron Sorkin, Matthew Weiner, Darren Star, and Vince Gilligan. He helped navigate adaptations tied to properties from publishers like Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Random House, and Penguin Books, and facilitated talent attachments for streaming originals competing with hits like Stranger Things, The Crown, Succession, The Handmaid's Tale, and Ted Lasso.

Leadership and industry roles

Sures held executive responsibilities at United Talent Agency that included mentoring executives, cultivating relationships with network presidents such as those at NBCUniversal Television, ABC Entertainment, CBS Entertainment, and studio chairmen at Warner Bros. Television Group and Sony Pictures Television. He served on boards and advisory panels with institutions including the Television Academy, the Paley Center for Media, and charitable organizations aligned with entertainment philanthropy like the Motion Picture & Television Fund and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His industry influence extended into negotiation circles during high-profile labor actions involving Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild‑American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and in discussions with policymakers and trade groups like the National Association of Theatre Owners and streaming coalitions.

Awards and recognition

Sures has been recognized in trade press and industry lists produced by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline Hollywood, and Billboard for his executive leadership and deal-making, appearing in rankings alongside executives such as Ari Emanuel, Tom Rothman, Dana Walden, Peter Chernin, and Michael Eisner. His work has been associated with projects that received nominations and awards from the Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Producers Guild Awards, and honors from the Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America. Industry honors have also included acknowledgments at events hosted by Empire Awards, Critics' Choice Television Awards, and institutionally by the Paley Center for Media.

Category:American television executives Category:Television producers