Schitt's Creek Executive Producer Dead at 47

One of the driving forces behind the award-winning CBC television series Schitt's Creek is gone. Variety reports that executive producer Ben Feigin died of pancreatic cancer, with confirmation on his death from United Talent Agency, his former employer. Feigin was 47. The Maryland native kicked off his career at Warner Bros., then moved on to William Morris, UTA, the Collective talent agency, and Amblin Entertainment. Among the series Feigin oversaw were Friends, The West Wing, and ER, before becoming involved with Schitt's Creek, which eventually found international popularity on Netflix.

In addition to being a key player on the development and launch of the series, which originally aired on CBC from 2015 to 2020, Feigin was said to be responsible for the show's "nontraditional financing model," per Variety, and instrumental in a piecemeal licensing strategy that worked territory by territory. He also directed related Schitt's Creek projects, such as Netflix's Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt's Creek Farewell documentary and an immersive pop-up experience based on the series that sold out in less than a minute, per Deadline. Feigin racked up multiple awards for the show during its last season, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Feigin was also instrumental in helping to convert a tiny town in upstate New York into a Schitt's Creek replica of sorts.

Per a 2020 article in the Democrat & Chronicle, Feigin collaborated with locals in Sharon Springs, in Schoharie County, to turn a general store into "Rose Apothecary" (David Rose's boutique shop on the show). Other similarities between the two towns, per the paper: Sharon Springs is also "in the middle of nowhere [and] named after water," and it boasts a "mayor who works in a motel" and a cafe owner who's a dead ringer for the Schitt's Creek character played by Eugene Levy. "My very first friend, Ben Feigin, died Monday," author and journalist Jonathan Allen tweeted late Tuesday. "The world knew him as an Emmy-award-winning executive producer of Schitt's Creek and a creative genius. I will never forget our countless one-on-one baseball games." Feigin is survived by his wife, Heidi, and his 11-year-old daughter, Ellie. (More executive producer stories.)