Tom Hastings is CBC’s new head of drama, effective immediately.

He steps in for, and will report to, Sally Catto, who was made executive director of arts and entertainment at the pubcaster in November.

The promotion comes three years after the veteran TV maker joined CBC’s drama department, where he was put in charge of production. Hastings was previously a production executive at Alliance Atlantis, where he presided over series for HGTV and the Food Network, and was also manager of research at National Geographic Channel Canada.

‘[Hastings’] knowledge and expertise in managing the creative development and production of some of this country’s most successful dramas ideally suit him to this new role,’ commented Catto in a release.

Hastings is also credited as a writer on documentaries Charles Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle and The Panama Canal for National Geographic Television USA.