EXCLUSIVE: Reginald the Vampire producer Thunderbird Entertainment is setting up a scripted hub in the U.S.
The Canadian outfit has signed Netflix’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always EP Hillary Zwick Turner to run an LA outpost, while it has separately struck a scripted deal with former Lionsgate EVP of Television Barbara Wall’s Tuatara Media.
Turner becomes Thunderbird SVP Scripted Content and will oversee development and production from the hub – Thunderbird’s second in the U.S. – along with looking after talent partnerships and honing in on scripted projects. The new hub has several staff and is sharing space with Thunderbird kids’ label Atomic’s LA studio, which opened four years ago.
Hillary Zwick Turner
The LA hub opening marks a major move for Kim’s Convenience maker Thunderbird, which has in the past year been behind the likes of SyFy’s Reginald the Vampire (with Cineflix and Modern Story Company) starring Spider Man’s Jacob Batalon, which is shooting a second season, along with Kim’s Convenience spin-off Strays Season 2 and Boot Camp, the film adaptation of the Wattpad story of the same name. Past projects include big-budget Blade Runner spin-off Blade Runner 2049.
Meanwhile, the deal with Dead Ringers EP Wall is seeing the pair forge a slate of scripted projects and Thunderbird has also optioned a number of books for TV and film.
Turner most recently served as EP on Netflix special Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always and has spent four years with the streamer, where she was also lead executive on Cobra Kai, Julie and The Phantoms and The Letter for the King. She also worked at Disney and led development on several series, including dramedy Andi Mack and tween sitcoms Liv & Maddie and Good Luck Charlie.
Thunderbird President and Chief Creative Officer Matthew Berkowitz said the outfit is “taking our scripted operation to the next level” with the hire of Turner, opening of the LA hub and partnership with Wall and Tuatara.
“We already have content in active network development and will be leveraging the entire company to pursue and take advantage of global scripted opportunities,” he added, describing Turner as a “tremendous talent.”
Turner said she will “help build a global premium scripted content brand.”
Thunderbird develops, produces, and distributes content through its Thunderbird Kids & Family (Atomic Cartoons), Thunderbird Unscripted (Great Pacific Media), formerly known as Thunderbird Factual, and Thunderbird Scripted brands.
Late last year, a fight for control in Thunderbird’s upper echelons was sparked by a shareholder seeking to replace the board with people who could “unlock its value.”
