Fifth Season is launching a standalone non-fiction production banner with Mary Lisio, who has exec produced documentaries including History’s Gettysburg and Netflix’s Worst Roommate Ever.
Lisio, who was previously EVP of Non-Scripted Development & Production at the CJ ENM-backed studio, will head Quite Contrary, which become the home of all of Fifth Season’s non-scripted works.
The banner will have a “multi-year partnership” with Fifth Season and Lisio, who joined the company in 2022, will become President.
She will be joined by Fifth Season staffers including executive producer Elissa Johnson and will develop and produce a slate of documentary features, docuseries, and reality formats.
Fifth Season is behind non-scripted projects including feature doc Folktales, from directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, CNN miniseries Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders and HBO’s forthcoming doc on Earth, Wind, & Fire by Questlove as well as Hulu’s McCartney 3, 2, 1.
Before joining Fifth Season, Lisio worked at Blumhouse Television, where she worked on its deal with NBC to develop and produce original scripted shows based on content from Dateline, leading to The Thing About Pam. She also exec produced Nat Geo’s Killing Jesus and Killing Kennedy. She has also worked for Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and RSA Films and R.J. Cutler’s Actual Reality Pictures.
“Quite Contrary is a natural evolution of the work we’ve done at Fifth Season for years,” said Lisio. “Moving forward, we’ll be better equipped than ever to create captivating non-scripted and documentary content for wide audiences. I’m grateful for the continued partnership of Graham, Ariel, and everyone at Fifth Season, and I look forward to working together to build on the great things we’ve already achieved together.”
“Mary is a singular executive,” said Fifth Season CEO Graham Taylor. “Her expertise and vision are the reason we’ve been able to build the impressive non-scripted slate we have today. Establishing a new banner for that work empowers her and the entire Fifth Season team to keep scaling our non-scripted storytelling, while also providing the flexibility needed to navigate this fast-paced and evolving sector. I’m eager to see what we accomplish together next.”
