Laura Lancaster, Head of US SVOD TV Development and Series – Co-Productions at Amazon MGM Studios, has expanded the roles of her top lieutenants Kara Smith and Tom Lieber in the department that handles development and production of series coming from outside studios. Lancaster outlined the changes in an internal memo, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline.Smith, who was promoted from Head of Limited Series to Head of TV Development, SVOD Co-Productions in 2023, has been elevated to Head, Co-Production Drama, Comedy Development and Current Series.Lieber, who was named Head of Scripted Series, UK in November and moved to London, will return to the U.S. as Head, Co-Production Genre Development and Current Series.Lancaster is handing additional responsibilities to Smith and Lieber as her role, as well as that of her counterpart on the owned series side, Nick Pepper, have expanded with their boss, Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders, stepping up in the wake of Jennifer Salke’s departure as head of Amazon MGM Studios.In her new role, Smith, who shepherded development of Prime Video’s YA megahit The Summer I Turned Pretty — now releasing its third and final season — will oversee current Drama, YA, and Comedy series while continuing to lead co-production development and Limited series. The move will have her work on upcoming seasons of shows she had developed, including Reacher and Cross.Odetta Watkins and Alex Weinberger will continue as heads of Drama series and YA & Comedy departments, respectively. Previously reporting to Lancaster, they will now report to Smith.In Lancaster’s memo, she highlighted Smith’s work on The Better Sister and We Were Liars, calling them “must-watch series that have captured the cultural conversation,” which bodes well for the latter’s renewal chances, as well as on upcoming series such as Scarpetta, Ride or Die, Spider: Noir, and Blade Runner 2099, which she revealed will debut in 2026.Lieber has been a rising star at Amazon MGM Studios valued particularly for his genre expertise. While tasked with seeing through development on projects Rola Bauer, Amazon MGM Studios’ former Head of Pan-English original content, had put into motion in his role as Head of UK Scripted Series, Lieber maintained oversight of ongoing Prime Video genre series, including The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, Fallout and The Boys franchise. Based in London, Lieber continued to report to Lancaster.The time difference proved difficult to navigate as Lieber continued his work on the massive genre tentpoles. With the majority of the slate Lieber inherited from Bauer coming to fruition, Lancaster offered him a bigger new post in Los Angeles as he will add Genre Co-Production Development to his purview in addition to Genre Series and will work on the streamer’s Spiderverse series along with his existing franchises.Amazon MGM Studios in June named Nicole Clemens Head of International Originals. The role, previously based in Los Angeles, will now be based in London, with Clemens in the process of relocating. The UK Scripted series team will now report to her.Max Taylor will continue to work on genre development, now reporting to Lieber.“Elevating Kara and Tom’s roles reflects our dedication to creative excellence while cultivating long running series for our audience,” Lancaster said. “Their successful track records at Amazon, strong industry relationships, and rapport with their peers make them ideal for these expanded roles.”
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