Facebook hired an MTV executive to help it create original shows

Reuters

Facebook wants to create its own original shows, and now it's hired an executive from MTV to help.

Former MTV executive vice president Mina Lefevre is joining Facebook as its new head of development, she announced in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.

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"I have always been drawn to the idea of building something and the idea of being part of the team that helps build Facebook's original content ecosystem...well, that just seems like a dream!" she wrote.

Lefevre was MTV's head of scripted programming, and at Facebook she'll be working with CollegeHumor cofounder Ricky Van Veen, who is leading the social network's efforts to bankroll original shows.

During Facebook's last earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is starting to experiment with funding shorter, episodic videos to push into its News Feed.

The move is a way for Facebook to capitalize on video ad dollars and compete with ad budgets currently focused on competitors like YouTube. Facebook is starting to let publishers show mid-roll ads in the middle of their videos, and it recently tweaked the News Feed to promote longer videos.

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