Playground Entertainment promotes Scott Huff, David Stern to joint MDs
New York- and London-based production company Playground Entertainment has promoted Scott Huff and David Stern to joint MDs, giving them oversight of day-to-day operations as founder and executive chairman Colin Callender continues to focus to corporate strategy, coproductions and talent relationships.
Scott Huff
Huff and Stern will be charged with accelerating the growth of the transatlantic company, which has produced projects including BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, BBC/Starz crime series The Missing and Amazon’s King Lear adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins.
In addition to focusing on the firm’s broader strategic direction, Callender will continue to oversee some current productions including Channel 5/PBS series All Creatures Great & Small, which is in production on its fourth season.
Huff has been with Playground since it launched in 2012, overseeing its TV projects in the US and UK as well as its international copros. During his tenure, he has developed and produced series including Wolf Hall, The Missing, King Lear and BBC/Starz miniseries The White Princess.
Stern, who joined in 2019 as senior VP of development and production, was formerly an indie producer with credits on series such as Corus/Peacock drama Departure, Netflix drama Delhi Crime and Prime Video’s The Last Tycoon. He was also formerly a talent manager at Kipperman Management, managing both US and UK talent, and the co-head of scripted programming at Sofia Vergara’s company Raze.
David Stern
Projects in the pipeline for Playground include an adaptation of Laura Shin’s cryptocurrency novel The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies & the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze. It is also adapting UK novelist Alex Marwood’s Wicked Girls, with Richard Shepard (Girls, Dom Hemingway) attached to direct.
In addition to All Creatures Great & Small, Playground’s other recent projects include Dangerous Liaisons for Starz and Lionsgate+, and Peter Kosminsky-written thriller The Undeclared War for Channel 4 and Peacock.
“In Scott and David, we have very strong, creatively dynamic and commercially innovative leadership across our growing slate of projects,” said Callender.
“Scott was a day-one employee of the company and has been an integral part of its success to date, while David was a valued colleague and collaborator for many years before joining us formally in 2019. As a partnership, they are a formidable team capable of harnessing and accelerating the growth of the business in the ever-changing global marketplace. I look forward to entering the next chapter of Playground together.”
