The Fifth Season announced the launch of Quite Contrary Pictures, a new standard-bearer for unscripted documentary production, led by Emmy Award-winning executive Mary Riccio.
Quite Contrary Pictures will serve as the new home for all of Fifth Season’s unscripted productions. Liscio will serve as president of Quite Contrary and will work with talent, production partners and intellectual property to build a suite of documentary features, docuseries and reality formats.
Liscio will be joined by several Fifth Season nonfiction executives, including executive producer Elissa Johnson, at the new company, and will continue to work with the studio’s global team, including CEO Graham Taylor and longtime collaborator Ariel Richter.
Prior to his role as Vice President of Unscripted Development and Production for Season 5, Liscio was a senior executive at Blumhouse Television and previously served as Senior Vice President of Nonfiction and Branded Content at Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and RSA Films. In addition to winning an Emmy for the History Channel feature “Gettysburg,” Liscio received two additional nominations for National Geographic’s “Killing Jesus” and “Killing Kennedy.”
“Mary is a unique business owner,” Taylor said. “Thanks to her expertise and vision, we were able to build the great unscripted production we have today. Establishing a new flag for that production will allow her and the entire Fifth Season team to continue expanding unscripted storytelling, while also providing the flexibility we need to navigate this fast-paced and evolving field. We look forward to what we accomplish together next.”
Riccio further added, “Quite “Contrary” is a natural evolution of the work we’ve done at Fifth Season for many years. Looking forward, we’re better equipped than ever to create compelling unscripted documentary content for a wide range of audiences. We’re grateful for the continued partnership of Graham, Ariel and everyone at Fifth Season, and we look forward to working together to build on the great things we’ve already accomplished together.”
Recent unscripted projects for a fifth season include “Folktales,” “Death Cap: The Mushroom Murders” and the upcoming documentary “Earth, Wind, & Fire.” The studio’s other nonfiction titles include “McCartney 3, 2, 1,” “Becoming Mary Tyler Moore” and “Superpowers.”
