After Exiting Spotify, Liz Gateley Launches Damsel Media With Aim of Creating Content to ‘Inspire’ Female Gen Z Audiences

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Liz Gateley, having departed from Spotify at the end of 2024 following a six-year tenure, has now established her personal media business.

Gateley, an experienced figure in television who’s known for producing shows like MTV’s “Laguna Beach,” “The Hills,” and “Teen Mom,” moved to Spotify in 2019 where she has been leading the development of original podcasts as their head. Her latest project is Damsel Media, a production company that specializes in generating content tailored for young female audiences within Generation Z.

For the initial two ventures of Damsel Media, which are scripted series conceived by Gateley, collaborations have been established with 32 Flavors and Haymaker East. The casting process is currently in progress for both projects, however, Damsel Media is choosing to remain silent about specific details at this stage.

Damsel Media Productions plans to cover various mediums such as television, cinema, online streaming platforms for consumers, and other digital content. The aim is to captivate upcoming generations of women by presenting narratives that echo and represent their lived experiences.

For quite some time now, I’ve been nurturing an idea, a passion project that is Damsel Media, right here in my heart and mind. You see, I believe there’s a void in our current storytelling landscape, particularly for young women. It’s as if I’ve been living, breathing, and creating within the thoughts of a 17-year-old girl, understanding her dreams, her fears, and her world. This is my attempt to fill that void and bring authentic, relatable stories to life.

2024 saw her depart from Spotify, as she yearned to return to extended narrative expression. She expressed that this decision stemmed from a desire for longform storytelling.

Gateley expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the past six years at Spotify, not just due to the amazing talents he collaborated with, but also because of the immense learning opportunities while working on projects alongside outstanding creators in a rapidly expanding and vibrant environment. Now, he’s ready to rekindle his passion for longform storytelling and create premium content tailored for young audiences at Damsel Media.

Gateley has teamed up with CAA, as well as Tara Senior and Todd Weinstein’s law firm, Weinstein Senior LLC. For now, Damsel Media doesn’t have any outside investors; instead, she stated, “I prefer to have a few shows running before I consider that move.

Beginning in February 2019, Gateley became the fourth employee at Spotify’s initial podcast studio team. Throughout her employment, she managed a significant partnership deal between Warner Bros./DC and Spotify, which led to the debut of “Batman Unburied,” “Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind,” and “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark.” In addition, Gateley collaborated with Kim Kardashian on her first podcast focused on criminal justice, titled “The System: The Case of Kevin Keith.” Furthermore, she was instrumental in creating “What Now? With Trevor Noah,” a podcast that is now in its second season.

Moreover, Gateley spearheaded the development of Spotify Pictures, a venture that transforms podcasts and intellectual property from the platform into visual content. This initiative resulted in the creation of “RapCaviar Presents” as a docuseries on Hulu and “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” featuring Justina Machado, for Amazon Prime Video, in collaboration with Blumhouse.

Before joining Spotify, Gateley was in charge of programming at Lifetime Television. In this role, she managed original scripted and unscripted series as well as overseeing production of more than 100 original movies annually. During her tenure at Lifetime, she created shows like “You” from Greg Berlanti (which later moved to Netflix), “Surviving R. Kelly,” and “Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone (If You’re a Girl),” which won the 2020 Academy Award for documentary short.

For ten years, starting from 2003, Gateley was employed at MTV. During this period, she was responsible for creating shows like “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills.” As the head of development at MTV, she managed a successful lineup that included “Teen Wolf,” “Jersey Shore,” “16 & Pregnant,” “Teen Mom,” “America’s Best Dance Crew,” “Human Giant,” “Run’s House,” “Wild ‘N Out” and “Ridiculousness.” In 2010, Gateley, supported by Barry Diller and Ben Silverman, established the production company DiGa alongside Tony DiSanto (former MTV president). At DiGa, she reworked “Scream” into a series for MTV and continued to supervise “Teen Wolf.” In 2014, Gateley and DiSanto sold DiGa to ITV.

Gateley initially ventured into the world of entertainment by working as a trainee in the mailroom at William Morris. Prior to that, she had spent time practicing law in both New York and Los Angeles, following her graduation from Loyola Law School in LA. Raised in Palos Verdes, California, which served as her muse for the series “Laguna Beach”, Gateley also attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies. Presently, she resides in New York City with her spouse, Greg, and their three kids: Isabella, Gabby, and Finn.

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2025-04-28 17:17