HiddenLight’s Nicky Huggett has been appointed VP Factual Development to help oversee Nutopia’s core development operation.
She will report into Samantha Fernandes, who in her new role as EVP Development will turn her attention to expanding Nutopia’s development slate into more entertainment-focused genres.
Huggett joins from the Hillary Clinton-led production company, which she helped launch with the former First Lady in 2020.
The company shows currently in production include an upcoming WWII series with Tom Hanks for History, along with series featuring Will Smith and Chris Hemsworth. Filming for the second season of Limitless sparked a huge viral moment last month when Chris Hemsworth made a surprise appearance as drummer at an Ed Sheeran concert in Bucharest.
Chief Creative Officer, Simon Willgoss, says: “We’re delighted to welcome Nicky and promote Sam. It’s the first step in an exciting period of creative expansion for us. We have some ambitious plans, so keep an eye out for what’s next”
During her time at HiddenLight, Huggett led the development department, working on projects such as Gutsy, an Apple TV+ series presented by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, as well as two yet-to-be-announced series for Sky Documentaries and the BBC. She also oversaw the development of feature documentary In Her Hands for Netflix, The Cranes Call for Channel 4, in association with the Clooney Foundation for Justice, and Zurawski vs Texas, which recently premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was executive produced by Jennifer Lawrence.
VP Factual Development, Nicky Huggett, says: “Nutopia feels like the perfect fit; they share my passion for marrying big name talent with compelling subjects to educate, and more importantly, entertain a global audience. I am so excited to embrace this opportunity to learn from their remarkable creative team who seem to have innovation baked into their DNA.”
In her new role as EVP Development, Fernandes will help drive Nutopia’s creative strategy alongside Chief Creative Officer Simon Willgoss. Fernandes will also manage relationships with key partners like National Geographic, Disney+, Netflix, and Apple. She will continue to oversee Nutopia’s growing development slate, where she has been instrumental in the conception and development of over 100 hours of the company’s landmark premium documentary content across multiple genres. Leading the full development output, including the multi-Daytime Emmy Award-winning docudrama African Queens: Njinga for Netflix, in collaboration with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios
EVP Development, Samantha Fernandes, says: “Working at Nutopia has always felt like being at the forefront of innovation in our industry, and I’m excited to push that even further in my new role – supercharging our creativity, output, growth, and success especially as we venture into new genres like factual entertainment.”
Pippa Considine
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