March 27 (Reuters) - Jen Salke, head of Amazon's ( AMZN )

MGM Studios, will step down from her role to start a

new production entity, according to an internal memo sent to

employees by Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios head Mike

Hopkins, as seen by Reuters.

Salke, a former NBC Entertainment president, was known at

Amazon ( AMZN ) for championing ambitious projects - such as the

globe-trotting spy thriller, "Citadel" - that did not always

connect with Amazon Prime Video's domestic audience.

She helmed the combined entity that emerged when Amazon ( AMZN )

closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, the fabled

moviemaker behind "Rocky" and James Bond film franchises.

Hopkins also said in his memo the studio will not be

replacing her.

"We've decided to flatten our leadership structure a bit and

not fill the head of studios role," he said.

"In line with Amazon's ( AMZN ) recent work to streamline reporting

lines and accelerate decision making, we felt this was the best

direction for our studio, which will now operate as distinct

film and television studios."

Courtenay Valenti, head of film, and Vernon Sanders, head of

TV, will now report directly to Hopkins, while Sue Kroll will

continue to lead global marketing across both film and TV.

Salke has already signed a first-look deal across both film

and TV with Amazon MGM Studios for her production entity,

according to the memo.

Hopkins also referred to the changes in the studio behind

shows such as "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and

"Reacher".

"We will be taking a couple of weeks to have thoughtful

conversations with Jen's directs and others to finalize the

ideal long-term structure for the Amazon MGM Studios

organization as a whole, and we'll have more to share on that

work soon."