Nutopia strengthens production team with Pole to Pole showrunner

Nutopia has strengthened its creative team by upping Pole to Pole With Will Smith showrunner Tom Williams, Broadcast can reveal. 

Williams has been made exec producer at the Limitless: Live Better Now with Chris Hemsworth indie, a move which follows on from Broadcast’s revelation of the recent departure of creative director of formats and special projects Tom Watt-Smith to the BBC. 

In his role, Williams will be tasked with developing and steering high-impact entertainment-first formats, building on Nutopia’s track record of tentpole productions. The indie is currently in production with a major World War II doc with Tom Hanks and 10-part Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny, both for History Channel. 

It is also prepping three-year Nat Geo/Disney+ series Pole to Pole, which chronicles Hollywood star Will Smith’s 100-day journey from the South to North Pole. 

Besides his work on Pole to Pole, Williams brings more than two decades of experience as showrunner and director and has delivered numerous high-profile fact-ent formats and docuseries.  

Recent credits include Netflix’s Emmy-winning Drive to Survive, Bear Grylls’ The Island; and executive producing six series of the Grierson-winning Celebrity Hunted and Hunted for Channel 4. 

He will report to chief creative officer Simon Willgoss and Nutopia chief exec Jane Root. 

Root said: “We always try to create the biggest and most surprising shows across all genres, and Tom has such an incredible track record for delivering bold, innovative shows that everyone talks about. We’re excited to have him step up into this bigger role with us.” 

Williams said: “After three brilliant years working with the Nutopia team on Pole to Pole, I’m thrilled to expand my role and lead on new premium projects for the UK and US.”