Realscreen »Archives» Thunderbird Entertainment Appoints Matthew Berkowitz President

Matthew Berkowitz takes over as chairman of Thunderbird Entertainment, as the Vancouver-based company kicks off its coming year with a number of additional promotions in its kids, factual and scripted divisions.

LA-based Berkowitz (pictured, left) will continue as Creative Director of Thunderbird and its kids and family division, Atomic Cartoons.

Berkowitz first joined the company in 2016 when Atomic opened its office in Los Angeles, as head of development. In 2019, he was named CCO of Atomic and Thunderbird.

He reports to Thunderbird and Atomic CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron (pictured, right), who previously held the title of chairman after Mark Miller stepped down in 2020.

In his new role, Berkowitz will oversee the “development, production, distribution and acquisitions of intellectual property in all productions of Thunderbird Entertainment”, which includes Atomic Cartoons and the factual division Great Pacific Media (GPM), as well as other scripted properties such as the upcoming Syfy Series Réginald the vampire (working title). He will also spearhead mergers and acquisitions initiatives for Thunderbird. The company’s 1,400 employees are located in studios in Vancouver, LA, Toronto and Ottawa.

Thunderbird also announced several additional hires and promotions in its brands.

Lindsay Macadam, Head of Script Development at GPM, has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Content and Business Development. Former Creative Director Ed de Rivaz will serve as Senior Vice President, Development, while CFO Tony Chung has been appointed Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Affairs.

The past two years have seen a change in the leadership of Thunderbird Entertainment. After a period of transition, Miller – who co-founded GPM in 2010 – officially left the company this spring, and his fellow GPM co-founder, Blair Reekie, left the company in 2020, with David Way named president.

By Kelly Townsend, Daily Playback