Nutopia makes development promotions

Nutopia has promoted Samantha Fernandes to Head of Development and Rob MacAndrew to VP of Science Development.

The pair will report to Executive Vice President and Executive Producer, Simon Willgoss, who was promoted last year.

“Sam and Rob are both best-in-class development execs and we’re delighted to secure them in these new roles,” said Simon Willgoss, EVP and Executive Producer. “Sam has been integral to our growth these past years and is already proving herself to be a top development head. We’re excited to welcome back Rob, whose expertise will help us build on our recent successes in celebrity-led, premium science and natural history.”

Current Deputy Head of Development Samantha Fernandes has been promoted to Head of Development. In her new role, Fernandes will oversee the day-to-day running of the development slate across all genres. Joining Nutopia as a development researcher in 2015, Fernandes has been across the development of projects such as Netflix’s Babies, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, and upcoming Disney+ series’ Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. Prior to working at Nutopia, Fernandes was a broadcast writer at Canada’s CTV News Channel.

“I’m so proud to work for a female-led production company and I’m thrilled to be taking on this role at such an exciting time for Nutopia. I look forward to continuing the company’s future growth and ambition,” says Samantha Fernandes.

Rob MacAndrew has been elevated to Vice President of Science Development to fill a newly created role. Since rejoining the company as a Development Executive in 2020 he has led the development of recently announced Welcome to Earth (w/t) with Will Smith for Disney+. In this new position, he will take on a wider role leading development on the company’s new premium science, natural history, and adventure content. Rob was a member of the original creative team behind the blockbuster hit One Strange Rock for National Geographic and Emmy-nominated How We Got to Now for PBS. Previously, Rob was a producer at Windfall.