LeviRugg

MotorTrend and TEN: The Enthusiast Network, 2014–2022.

I started as creative director and executive producer while the YouTube audience grew from 100K to 6 million. As studio head, I moved the company from unformatted YouTube content to formatted programming that could be monetized on cable, SVOD, AVOD and social, and built out the production and post equipment to match.

Roadkill, Roadworthy Rescues and Top Gear America grew into annual events, $1M+ a year in merchandise and $3–5M a year in brand partnerships. Three short-form and social departments published five new assets a day to a 10M+ audience.

Warner Bros. Discovery, 2022–2025.

As VP, Production & Development, I directed strategy and operations for 20+ concurrent productions across digital, streaming and broadcast, reaching an audience of 70M. Every show streamed on HBO Max and discovery+.

I built and led 10 production teams, created standard development and production systems that raised the success rate of new series, and built 2–5 paid partnerships into every program without giving up editorial integrity.

• 2022–25
  VP, Production & DevelopmentWarner Bros. Discovery · Culver City
• 2018–22
  Studio Head & Executive ProducerMotorTrend Group · El Segundo
• 2014–18
  Creative Director & Executive ProducerTEN: The Enthusiast Network · El Segundo
• Earlier
  Showrunner, Director, Editor, ProducerBFA, Film · University of Colorado Boulder, 2011

Franchises I built and ran, and where they aired.

• RoadkillSeries
• Hot Rod GarageSeries
• Roadworthy RescuesSeries
• Top Gear AmericaSeries
• Kevin Hart’s Muscle Car CrewSeries
• Head 2 HeadSeries
• IgnitionSeries
• Dirt Every DaySeries
• Epic DrivesSeries
• Petrolhead PlanetSeries
• On Two WheelsSeries
• World’s Greatest Drag RaceEvent
• Hooptie World ChampionshipEvent
• Pebble Beach Concours d’EleganceEvent

Distribution

• HBO MaxStreaming
• discovery+Streaming
• MotorTrend+Streaming
• YouTubeDigital
• The Roku ChannelStreaming
• NetflixStreaming
• BBC StudiosStudio partner

360 programs for national advertisers.

A live event, a social campaign, long-form and short-form video and written packages, with the client relationship and all of the content produced in-house.

Building the next studio.

I’m looking for the next team to build: an in-house content studio, a production organization that needs structure, or a brand that wants to tell its story with video at scale.