Thunderbird Entertainment Group president and chief creative officer Matthew Berkowitz (pictured) is departing the company after seven years.

The Vancouver-headquartered media company announced Thursday (May 2) that Berkowitz is exiting his role effective May 31 after accepting a new opportunity.

Berkowitz’s remit overseeing the development of animated and scripted IP will be split between Hillary Zwick Turner, SVP of scripted content at Thunderbird, and Aaron Behl and Kristin Cummings, who both serve as SVP, original at Thunderbird’s animation studio Atomic Cartoons. All three now report to Jennifer Twiner McCarron, CEO and chair of Thunderbird.

As a result of Berkowitz’s departure, the leadership is now composed of Twiner McCarron, CFO Simon Bodymore and Richard Goldsmith, president of global distribution and consumer products.

Berkowitz joined the company in 2016 as head of development of Atomic Cartoons, based in Los Angeles. He was promoted to CCO in 2019 and took on the additional title of president of Thunderbird Entertainment in 2021. Prior to joining Atomic, he worked at the now-defunct Toronto animation studio Arc Productions.

“We wish Matthew the absolute best in his new endeavour and thank him for his creativity, vision, passion and the key role he played in growing the company to where we are today, including overseeing the launch of Atomic Originals, Thunderbird Scripted, Global Distribution & Consumer Products, and supporting the expansion of our production footprint,” said Twiner McCarron in a statement.

Berkowitz added: “I am so proud of everything Atomic and Thunderbird have achieved. This is just the beginning for the company, and with such an incredibly talented and accomplished leadership team in place, and so many excellent productions on the go, I cannot wait to see how it continues to flourish and thrive.”

Thunderbird also announced key promotions at its unscripted subsidiary Great Pacific Media (GPM). President David Way has been elevated to CEO, while Lindsay Macadam takes on the president title, having formerly served as EVP.

“Over the last four years GPM has reached new heights with the launch of seven new series and two podcasts across a variety of unscripted genres, and David and Lindsay are continuing to build on that,” said Twiner McCarron.

Berkowitz marks the second executive departure at Thunderbird this year. Sarah Nathanson, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief operating officer, resigned last month, with Lori Massini promoted to general counsel.

Image courtesy of Thunderbird Entertainment Group