Twenty Twenty names MD in reshuffle

Warner Bros has promoted the creative director of its UK prodco Twenty Twenty Television to MD as part of a company shake-up.

Emma Willis

Emma Willis, who will report to Ronald Goes, exec VP and head of Warner Bros International Television Production (WBITVP), will take on responsibility for all of Twenty Twenty’s commercial strategy for building its shows into international brands. She will retain her creative director responsibilities.

Elsewhere, Hana Canter, director of production, operations and business, has been promoted to business director. She is tasked with expanding the company’s commercial opportunities around current and new formats.

Her appointment precedes the impending departure of CEO Tim Carter, who is joining ITV Studios-owned prodco Shiver as MD next year.

Willis had been in her previous post since she joined the company in 2015. During her tenure, she led on Twenty Twenty’s creative strategy, securing commissions such as BBC2’s The Refugee Camp and the upcoming A House Through Time, also for BBC2.

Hana Canter

Prior to joining, she was head of documentary commissioning at the BBC and was behind noted formats such as The Great British Bake Off, The Choir, The Great British Sewing Bee and social history series The Secret History of Our Streets.

Before the BBC, she was executive producer at UK prodco Wall To Wall, where she oversaw programmes such as Edwardian Country House for Channel 4 and George Orwell – A Life in Pictures for BBC2.

Commenting on her appointment, Goes said Willis was a creative executive of the “highest calibre” and perfectly placed to lead Twenty Twenty.

“By appointing from within, we’re very pleased to be able to safeguard, in the best possible way, the company’s enviable reputation in the UK,” he added.

Goes also welcomed the promotion of Canter, saying she would ably support Willis with her “considerable business experience and expertise.”

Before coming to Twenty Twenty, Canter worked at Canadian prodco Cineflix Productions as their sole London-based production executive, where she was responsible for all their UK output.

Prior to that, she spent eight years at Endemol Shine UK, working across a broad slate which included Deal or No Deal, The Farm, Snog Marry Avoid, Pointless and Cosmetic Surgery Live.