Laura Lancaster, Head, US SVOD TV Development and Series – Co-Productions, has expanded the roles of her top lieutenants Kara Smith and Tom Lieber in the department which 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. (You can read it below)
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 relocated to London, will return to the US 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 the 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 again 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 the 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 that had been under his purview, including The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, Fallout and The Boys franchise. While he was 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 earlier this year 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.”
Here is her memo:
Fellow colleagues,
As we evolve and grow as a Television Studio, we’ve continued to focus on building an organizational structure that matches the scale of our global ambitions. I’m pleased to share several important changes on the co-production development (working with external studios) & current side that will strengthen our leadership team, enhance our operational efficiency, and better position us to manage our expanding slate of successful on-going series.
We are elevating Kara Smith to Head, Co-Production Drama, Comedy Development and Current Series. In this enhanced role, Kara will now oversee current Drama, YA, and Comedy series while maintaining her existing oversight of co-production development and Limited series. Odetta Watkins and Alex Weinberger will continue to lead the Drama series and YA & Comedy departments respectively, now reporting directly to Kara. This strategic alignment allows Kara to reunite with several signature Prime Video series she originally developed, including Reacher, Cross, and more. Her extraordinary leadership and innovative vision helped craft The Better Sister and We Were Liars into must-watch series that have captured the cultural conversation. Kara’s guidance has been pivotal in many of our upcoming launches, including Scarpetta, Ride or Die, Spider: Noir, and our highly anticipated Blade Runner series, set for 2026.
Tom Lieber will also be expanding his role, adding Genre Co-Production Development to his remit in addition to Genre Series as Head, Co-Production Genre Development and Current Series. Tom’s exceptional leadership has been instrumental in shaping some of our most ambitious projects, such as The Boys universe (including spin-offs Gen V and Vought Rising), Fallout, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In this enhanced role, Tom will spearhead the development of all genre co-productions, leveraging his extensive Marvel experience to guide these world-building series. Max Taylor, who will now report directly to Tom, will continue to provide his crucial genre development expertise. To better manage these global priorities, I’ve asked Tom to relocate back to Los Angeles, after spending the last year successfully leading UK Scripted from our London Office, allowing us to centralize and scale our genre initiatives more effectively. The current UK Scripted series team will now report directly to Head of International Originals Nicole Clemens, in alignment with her move to the UK.
Elevating Kara and Tom’s roles reflects our dedication to creative excellence while cultivating long running series for our audience. Their successful track records at Amazon, strong industry relationships, and rapport with their peers make them ideal for these expanded roles. Both will continue to report directly to me as we work in close partnership with the wholly owned television team, led by Nick Pepper to manage our growing television portfolio.
Please join me in congratulating Kara and Tom! More details will follow as we implement these changes. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Best regards,
Laura
