Max Taylor is a Vice President of Development for Paramount Television and is responsible for developing intellectual property and original content for the studio. Since joining Paramount Television in 2015, Taylor has been responsible for a wide-ranging portfolio of both development and production, including series orders on: a limited series adaptation of Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 from Executive Producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov set up at Hulu; an adaptation of Paramount Pictures’ Boomerang from Executive Producer and writer Lena Waithe for BET; a docuseries based on Jack McCallum’s book Dream Team regarding the 1992 Olympic Men’s Basketball team also at BET; and the recently announced order for Briarpatch on USA from Executive Producer Sam Esmail.

Taylor has also set up and been charged with managing projects such as the adaptation of Neal Stephenson’s seminal novel Snow Crash with Frank Marshall producing; Citizen, a surreal and original mythology from Alfonso Gomez-Rejon set up at Apple; a series based on Scott Smith’s novel A Simple Plan set up at Amazon with Sam Raimi attached to direct; a series adaptation of Shantaram for Apple based on the Gregory David Roberts book; and a series centered on the original Terry Gilliam film Time Bandits, also for Apple. Taylor is also developing a new iteration of the Galaxy Quest franchise, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold for AMC, and The Italian Job for Apple. Additionally, Taylor has been charged with the development of Paramount legacy properties such as Parallax View, Event Horizon, Stardust, and Election, among others.

Previously, Taylor served as Manager, Scripted Television at Endemol Shine Studios where, under the leadership of Carolyn Bernstein, he developed a slate of TV series including Utopia from director David Fincher and writer Gillian Flynn for HBO, the American adaptation of Broadchurch; Gracepoint for FOX, and the critically acclaimed border drama The Bridge for FX. Taylor was also an integral part of developing Killroy County with Executive Producers Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor and director Miguel Arteta for Showtime. Prior to joining Endemol in 2014, Taylor served as Manager, Development & Production at Xbox Entertainment Studios under Nancy Tellem, where he sourced and managed development of Limited Series, Animation, and Comedy projects for the fledgling platform. While at Xbox, Taylor developed Humans in conjunction with Kudos and Channel 4. Humans was eventually sold and broadcast by AMC, where it is currently entering its third season. Taylor was also responsible for creating models to explore initiatives around feature film production, film licensing and franchise/IP generation with an emphasis on Microsoft brands Halo and Gears of War. Previously, Taylor was the assistant to Bryan Burk, a partner at J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot Productions. During his time at Bad Robot, Taylor assisted in the development, production, post-production and marketing of the feature films Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek into Darkness, Super 8, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. For Burk, Taylor managed schedules, budgets and the development process on TV projects Fringe (FOX), Person of Interest (CBS), Revolution (NBC), Almost Human (FOX) and Believe (NBC). A highlight of his time there was being invited to travel with Burk to Central America, South America and Europe to explore effective marketing strategies for Bad Robot films in the ever-expanding global marketplace.

Taylor’s first job in entertainment was as an Agent Trainee at the William Morris Agency. Taylor remained on through the merger of WMA and Endeavor into WME Entertainment and would go on to assist the Co-CEO of WME, Ari Emanuel. Additionally, he assisted Adriana Alberghetti, Jason Spitz, and Phil d’Amecourt, partners in the Motion Picture Literary Department, working with writers and directors such as Shane Black, Chris Columbus, Aaron Sorkin, and Steven Spielberg in the process. A graduate of Indiana University Bloomington’s Telecommunications program, Taylor’s first experience in entertainment came from successive internships working at Sony Pictures Television, Mosaic, Atlas Entertainment, and for Steve Golin at Anonymous Content and Doug Belgrad at Columbia Pictures. In his spare time, Max likes to hike, camp, play soccer, hassle his dog and recklessly play musical instruments he has no skill with whatsoever. He is an advocate for the Children’s Defense Fund, 826 LA and supporter of the Democratic Party.