We’re days away from the 78th Emmy nominations, and Sarah Aubrey will likely have more reason to celebrate. As Head of Original Programming for HBO Max, Sarah Aubrey oversees critically acclaimed shows including “The Pitt” and “Hacks.” Together, the two programs have 75 Emmy nominations and 17 wins.
“Hacks” (2024’s Best Comedy Emmy winner) just dropped its series finale, and “The Pitt” (2025’s Best Drama Emmy winner) is expected to go into production on season 3 this month.
Aubrey’s most ambitious undertaking yet arrives this December: an elaborate re-telling of the “Harry Potter” books, one season per title.
Finding The Secret Sauce
For Sarah Aubrey, every hit show begins the same way. “Always great writing,” she says. “I think that’s one of the secret sauces of HBO Max. We really take our time with getting a show right before we move ahead.”
One key ingredient is specificity. “The Pitt” is built around COVID’s lasting impact on medicine, the corporatization of hospitals, and how overwhelmed emergency rooms have become. “I think that’s where you reach people,” Aubrey explains. “Even if they don’t know anything about the subject, the more specific you are, it somehow becomes more universal.”
Another factor in the show’s massive success: more episodes each season, and a commitment to return annually. “People don’t have time to forget or move on to other shows.” It’s a model Aubrey is pushing to see more of on the platform.
The Long Road To A Hit
Deciding which pitches get scripts ordered and which get greenlit as series, limited series, or movies is also part of Sarah Aubrey’s job. It’s far from a perfect science. “We just try and make, as I like to say, good bets. You can only line it up, and then you need a little bit of luck and a little bit of chemistry,” she notes.
The pressure is enormous. “Every time you air an episode, it’s like an election is happening. Did it work? How many people are watching? What are the reviews?”
So she is very careful about what gets put into production. She points to “The Penguin” (24 Emmy nominations, 9 wins) as a project that took some time to find its footing. Director Matt Reeves originally pitched a show around the Gotham Police Department. Aubrey loved the concept, but after two scripts, they couldn’t crack it.
While shooting “The Batman,” Reeves came back with a new angle: “‘You know, Colin [Farrell] is really a standout in this movie. We should do something about him.'” Aubrey paired the idea with writer Lauren LaFranc, who brought the project “operatic drama” that also felt “grounded.” And a hit was born.
Macro Vision, Micro Details
Today, Aubrey likens her job to running an emergency room. “Who’s bleeding? And that’s where I’m going to go. Or who’s about to be born and needs the extra push out into the world?”
Managing high-stakes projects requires getting ahead of hard conversations. “You’re trying to be positive, yes-anding and leading people to the best and biggest version of what their idea is,” Aubrey notes. “But at the same time, you have to be able to say to them, ‘But this script is nowhere near what you’re hoping for.'”
The details, she insists, are where the magic lives. While she usually leaves most of that for her team, she does occasionally dive in. She recently found herself deep in a back-and-forth about an actor’s proposed hair and glasses for a project. “It made all the difference for this person who’s in a key part to be believable opposite another actor.”
Changes Ahead
Also on Aubrey’s mind is Paramount Skydance. The company is in the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of HBO Max. It’s Aubrey’s third merger since joining HBO Max in 2019.
What helps during these transitions, she’s discovered, is keeping the focus on the work at hand. “Change is the norm,” Aubrey shared. “And so the more resilient you become about change, but also the more you are able to focus and derive pleasure in the moment, the happier you will be through all of that.”
Aubrey’s Path to Programming
Aubrey traces her entertainment career to a childhood love of reading and an obsession with “Grease.” But her initial career goal was law.
After graduating from Princeton and the University of Texas, she landed at a Century City firm. There, she quickly realized “no one asked their lawyer for script notes.” Through a friend, she found her way to producing and made the leap. Her first projects were “Bad Santa” and Peter Berg’s “Friday Night Lights” film and series.
She learned that producing was all about troubleshooting and making big, crazy ideas happen. In those early days, as she accumulated thousands of hours of experience producing, she was often the only woman in meetings and behind the scenes on sets.
A Big, Blended Family
Aubrey, a single mom, has built a successful life at work and at home, supporting her three kids and embracing the blended family that’s grown around them. She admits early on she carried some “martyrdom” and was a “perfectionist and people pleaser,” which was helpful for others, but not herself.
These days, at 54, she is clear about her priorities: “My kids, and my kids getting a great education, being close to our family, and being curious and kind. I like us having adventures and having fun together.”
“I don’t feel guilty about my work, and I think that makes them also feel confident and taken care of. That my work is there, but they are always first, and that’s the truth.”
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