Overview
- The show promoted Keri Powers to serve as sole head of its talent department, making her responsible for booking hosts, musical guests and guest stars; the move was announced Saturday ahead of Season 52’s premiere.
- Rebecca Schwartz was elevated to producer with expanded duties supporting the cast and production, and both Powers and Schwartz are roughly 12-year veterans of SNL’s talent operation.
- The shifts follow the non-renewal of Brian Siedlecki’s contract after nearly 30 years as the show’s booker, a vacancy first reported in August and cited as the reason for the internal succession.
- SNL has already published its near-term episode slate — including shows on Oct. 3 (Dakota Johnson/Turnstile), Oct. 10 (Shane Gillis/Rosalía) and a Halloween episode (Inde Navarrette/Gracie Abrams) — giving the new talent leads an immediate booking schedule to manage.
- Promoting long-serving staff keeps institutional relationships and booking processes in place, though one report’s detail that Schwartz sat next to Lorne Michaels during screen tests is limited in sourcing and should be treated as unconfirmed.