Pioneer drafts in Arrow exec as creative chief

British producer Pioneer Productions has poached Arrow Media executive producer Thomas Viner for a senior creative role.

Viner will become the Tinopolis-owned factual prodco’s creative director, reporting to CEO Jonathan Hewes, the former Wall to Wall international boss who took over last year as Pioneer founder who stepped down as chairman.

He will work closely with Hewes, head of development Karen Willis and executive producer Stephen Marsh.

At indie Arrow, he was executive producer of shows such as National Geographic Wild’s Animal Fight Night, Investigation Discovery’s See No Evil and Channel 4’s Supersize Salvage. In total, he produced more than 75 hours of programming across the science, history, current affairs and factual genres.

Viner said his move coincided with “more opportunities than ever for specialist factual, for new ideas, and new twists on classic subjects and genres”.

Hewes, who also runs Pioneer sister firm Mentorn Media, said Viner was “one of the smartest young talents around, with a great track record in the specialist factual and international arena that Pioneer is renowned for”.

Pioneer has produced shows for the likes of Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, the BBC, France 5, ABC And TLC.

It became part of Wales-based Tinopolis in 2009, and now sits alongside prodcos such as A. Smith & Co, Firecracker Films, Magical Elves and Sunset+Vine.