Thunderbird hires Netflix alum Hillary Zwick Turner to lead new LA scripted base

Hillary Zwick Turner

Canada’s Thunderbird Entertainment Group has landed former Netflix exec Hillary Zwick Turner to lead the company’s new LA-based scripted hub.

Turner takes the newly created role of SVP of scripted content at Thunderbird and has been tasked with striking deals with creatives while also expanding the slate across drama, YA and family live-action.

She will oversee scripted development and production at the LA base, reporting into Matthew Berkowitz, Thunderbird president and chief creative officer.

Turner omst recently served as EP on Netflix special Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always and before that had been with the streamer across four years, leading shows including Cobra Kai, Julie And The Phantoms and The Letter For The King.

She also worked at Disney and led development on series including dramedy Andi Mack and tween sitcoms Liv & Maddie and Good Luck Charlie.

Turner’s arrival comes amid a scripted push at Thunderbird, which has been behind Reginald The Vampire for SyFy and Kim’s Convenience spin-off Strays S2 for CBC. It is also adapting Wattpad story Boot Camp and has optioned numerous novels, as well as creating a scripted slate with Barbara Wall, Lionsgate’s former EVP of Television, who launched Tuatara Media. Turner will now lead that partnership.

Berkowitz said: “[Turner] is a tremendous talent and we’ve long felt premium scripted content is an important growth opportunity and the third pillar for Thunderbird, existing alongside our animation (Atomic Cartoons) and unscripted (Great Pacific Media) productions.

“We already have content in active network development and will be leveraging the entire Company to pursue and take advantage of global scripted opportunities.”

Turner added: “I look forward to pairing the Company’s well-established ethos of creator-driven content with the desire to tell authentic, meaningful stories for all audiences in the scripted space.”

Earlier this year, Thunderbid struck a “cooperation agreement” with its largest shareholder, Voss Capital, after the US investment firm raised concerns around the group’s “strategic direction”.

Voss had said it was “disappointed by the current board’s strategic direction, as well as its apparent lack of urgency to create value and unresponsiveness to shareholder concerns.”

In November, Thunderbird hit out at what it said were “false and misleading claims” that Voss had the support of fellow investor Frank Giustra.