Former ITV America CEO Brent Montgomery has set the top executive team for Spoke Studios, the production label for his recently announced Wheelhouse Entertainment.
Will Nothacker and Joe Weinstock have been named co-presidents of Spoke Studios and will partner in running the company from Spoke Studios’ East and West Coast offices. Also joining Spoke Studios are Vice President of Development Justin Comins, and Director of Development Gardner Reed. All are former executives with Montgomery’s first production company, Leftfield Pictures, which became part of Leftfield Entertainment in 2013 and was acquired by ITV in 2014.
New York-based Nothacker was one of the earliest development executives hired at Leftfield Pictures. He joins Spoke Studios from his most recent post as creative director at ITV Creative, the in-house production infrastructure of ITV America. During his tenure, Nothacker developed more than 30 series, including History’s Alone and Bravo’s Bethenny & Fredrik, and was integral to launching numerous celebrity-branded production deals, developing projects with John Cena, Michael Strahan, La La Anthony, Lara Spencer, Bethenny Frankel and others.
Weinstock, based in Spoke Studios’ Los Angeles offices, previously served as SVP of development at Leftfield Pictures, where he developed such series as Blue Collar Backers and Carspotting for Discovery, The Book of John Gray for OWN and lauded National Geographic special Billy the Kid: New Evidence. He previously was senior director of development at Discovery Channel, and vice president of production & development at Gurney Productions, where he served as co-executive producer on numerous series including A&E’s Duck Dynasty and Syfy’s Hollywood Treasure.Weinstock also spent five years at Spike TV (now Paramount Network).
Nothacker and Weinstock report dually to Montgomery and Wheelhouse Entertainment Chief Strategy Officer Ed Simpson. The team will work closely with ITV America CEO David George to assure a smooth, coordinated transition period.
Comins served for two years as director of development at Leftfield Pictures, working on a versatile slate of projects including Tackle My Ride for NFL network, with other producer and director credits including Fox’s American Idol, and A&E’s Barter Kingsand Extreme Builds. Reed, with Leftfield Pictures for four years, was most recently manager of development, also working on The Book of John and Bethenny & Fredrik,an upcoming series for FYI, and numerous projects across ITV America’s celebrity-branded productions, including La La Anthony’s LaLaLand. He previously worked at Sirens Media in production and post-production.
Comins, who is based on the West Coast, reports to Weinstock; Reed, based on the East Coast, reports to Nothacker.
Said Montgomery, “Building a new creative entity from the ground up requires a team of dedicated out-of-the-box thinkers whose talent is matched by their initiative and desire to do something different – it is not for the faint of heart. I am extremely eager, once again, to be on the creative front lines, working closely with Will and Joe whose drive and creativity make them ideal to lead Spoke Studios on both coasts. In concert with ITV America, our best-in-class production partner, we will focus development on fewer projects that are bigger and bolder in scope, while aligning ourselves with A-list talent, and those we believe soon will be. Ed Simpson and I could not be more proud of the Spoke Studios team, and can’t wait to share our unique creative with the marketplace.”