EXCLUSIVE: In her third promotion in a little over three years, Netflix‘s Head of Drama Jinny Howe is further expanding her oversight to all of the streamer’s drama areas, adding Spectacle + Event, current series and shows coming out of Netflix’s roster of overall deals to her purview.
The elevation is part of an executive restructuring by Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s Head of UCAN Scripted series, who is streamlining the division to have two direct reports, VP Drama Howe and VP Comedy Tracey Pakosta, who has been overseeing both development and current.
As part of the restructuring, the UK-based Kelly Luegenbiehl, VP of Franchise and Spectacle Series, who reported to Friedlander, will be departing after more than eight years. The Spectacle + Event, current and overall deal drama teams will now report to Hawe.
A well liked executive, Howe has been a rising star since joining Netflix in 2018 after more than 13 years at John Wells Productions. The first project she worked on was Bridgerton‘s maiden season, followed by stints on another Shondaland series, Inventing Anna, and John Wells Prods.’ Maid. Before any of the shows had premiered to become global hits, Howe was promoted in fall 2020 to Head of Drama, Development, overseeing development of all drama series outside of the Spectacle + Event area and overall deals, shepherding such series as The Lincoln Lawyer.
In 2022, she added acquisitions and licensed content to her portfolio, including Manifest Season 4, and also oversaw a handful of current shows, including Virgin River Season 5. She recently worked on Netflix’s big Emmy and Golden Globe winner Beef.
Luegenbiehl served as VP International Original, focusing on European local language series, before she was tapped to lead the franchise TV team in Netflix’s fall 2020 restructuring. During her tenure, she developed and helped grow one of Netflix’s biggest drama franchises, The Witcher.
“Kelly’s an incredible colleague and has had a tremendous impact in her 8+ years at Netflix, including building the foundation for our local language originals and launching hit series such as Dark, Lupin, Sacred Games, Elite and The Witcher, said Friedlander, Netflix’s VP of Scripted Series, US and Canada. “I want to thank her for all of her contributions and wish her the best in her next chapter.”