Julie Meisner Eagle to work across development and production for Tinopolis-owned outfit
Pioneer Productions has hired former Discovery exec Julie Meisner Eagle to help expand its US footprint.
Meisner Eagle will become executive vice-president of production and development for Pioneer, whose recent slate includes Louvre Heist: Minute By Minute for Discovery and Elton John: Touched by Gold on YouTube.
She will help shape Tinopolis-owned Pioneer’s development engine in the US, while also overseeing production in the country.
Meisner Eagle joins current head of factual, Peter Collins, and will report to chief exec - and former Discovery alum - Howard Swartz, who joined Pioneer over the summer, relocating from Virginia to London to run the company.
Most recently Meisner Eagle was executive vice-president at Washington DC-based Change Content and worked on A24’s documentary The Sixth. She has also developed an HBO docuseries to be announced next year.
Prior to that, the exec held senior roles across the Discovery portfolio, including vice-president of production and development for Travel Channel, vice-president for Discovery Life, and director of production at TLC.
Swartz said: “We’re developing projects that embody the intelligence and ambition that define this company, while creating space for bold new ideas that resonate across platforms.
“As we accelerate our creative output, bringing in a leader of Julie’s caliber ensures we can scale thoughtfully while continuing to deliver the premium factual storytelling that’s core to Pioneer.”
Meisner Eagle added that she would be looking to “develop new projects across a variety of genres - from history, to pop culture, to wildlife and beyond - that appeal to audiences around the world.”
Pioneer’s upcoming slate includes Secrets of the Dead: The Quest for Camelot for PBS, while the US expansion follows a period of flux for the prodco.
Jonathan Hewes left Pioneer as chief exec at the beginning of 2024, with the position left vacant for over a year, before Broadcast revealed that creative director Thomas Viner had exited at the end of last year.
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