Matthew Berkowitz has been promoted to President of Thunderbird Entertainment, in addition to his current role as Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of the Vancouver-headquartered production, distribution and rights management company, and its Kids and Family Division, Atomic Cartoons.
Jennifer Twiner McCarron, to whom Berkowitz will report, remains CEO of Thunderbird Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons.
In his new role, Berkowitz will oversee the development, production, distribution and acquisition of IP (intellectual property) across all Thunderbird Entertainment productions, including Atomic Cartoons; the company’s factual division, Great Pacific Media; and upcoming scripted productions like Reginald The Vampire (working title) for Syfy.
Berkowitz has been with the company since 2016, most recently as CCO of Thunderbird and Atomic Cartoons, and as an Executive Producer on various Atomic productions, including The Last Kids on Earth. He’ll be based in Los Angeles, providing oversight to each of Thunderbird’s four locations in Vancouver, L.A., Ottawa and Toronto and a team of more than 1,400 people.
“Matthew has an exceptional creative eye for identifying and producing successful content. This, combined with his strategic vision for growth and ability to foster great partnerships has made him invaluable to our team. I feel incredibly lucky to have worked alongside Matt for the last five years and we are thrilled to promote him to President of Thunderbird,” said Twiner McCarron, in a company announcement.
Thunderbird Entertainment has also announced several other promotions and hires. At Atomic Cartoons:
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Carl Upsdell Nadine Westerbarkey has been promoted from Head of 2D Animation to Studio Creative Director.
- Carl Upsdell has been promoted from Series Director to Head of 2D Animation.
- Andrew Egiziano has joined Atomic Cartoons as Vice President of Production, Los Angeles.
At Great Pacific Media and Thunderbird Scripted:
- Tony Chung has been promoted from Director of Finance to Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Affairs.
- Lindsay Macadam has been promoted from Head of Scripted Development to Senior Vice President, Content and Business Development.
- Ed de Rivaz has been promoted from Creative Director to Senior Vice President, Development.
Atomic Cartoons has also established a Current Series Team, which provides dedicated creative oversight at an executive level as projects transition from development into production. Brady Serwitz, who recently joined the company from Marvel Animation, will serve as Director, Current Series. Catie Carducci, who played a key role in the development of The Last Kids on Earth franchise, will serve as Manager, Current Series.
Thunderbird currently has 27 shows in production for broadcasters including Netflix, Disney, Peacock, Apple, PBS, Bell Media’s Discovery, Corus Entertainment and the CBC, among others.
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