Howard Swartz is an Emmy® award-winning executive and producer with more than two decades of experience shaping premium factual content for leading broadcasters and streaming platforms worldwide. As CEO of Pioneer Productions, he brings a unique blend of creative vision, business acumen, and global industry relationships to drive the company’s growth and innovation.

Previously, Howard served as Senior Vice President of Docs and Specials at Warner Bros. Discovery, where he developed and executive produced some of the most high-profile documentary projects in recent years. He oversaw more than 100 hours of programming for Discovery’s Shark Week, the most anticipated annual event. He launched several successful limited series and documentaries including the Emmy-nominated natural history series Serengeti and Emmy-nominated feature doc January 6th.

Howard’s career includes leadership roles at National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, PBS’s acclaimed science series NOVA, Arrow Media and Stephen David Entertainment. He has been at the helm of multiple Emmy®-winning projects and has overseen highly rated live global broadcast events. Beyond his executive roles, he is a frequent speaker on international panels and serves on several festival boards.

Peter Collins joined Pioneer in May 2018 in the newly created role of Head of Factual. He oversees Pioneer’s premium factual output for both the UK and international markets.

In 2024, he created and executive produced premium doc: Gold – A Journey with Idris Elba, currently on Netflix, and is in production on a sequel.  Previous executive producer credits include ground-breaking natural history/science series In the Womb – Animal Babies for National Geographic/Disney +, The Windsor Castle Fire – The Untold Story for Channel 4, Animals Like Us for Love Nature/Sky Nature, Engineering Reborn with Rob Bell for Channel 5, Secrets of the Superfactories for Discovery Science, Shauna Coxsey’s Climbing Challenge for Red Bull, Ocean Autopsy for BBC4, and Secrets of the Royal Gardens for More4.

Prior to this, he was Head of Specialist Factual at STV Studios, where he devised and executive produced a number of ambitious projects including Britain’s Polar Bear Cub for Channel 4, Britain’s Biggest Warship for Smithsonian/BBC2, Lucy Worsley’s Fireworks for a Tudor Queen for BBC4 and Tree of the Year for Channel 4. Before starting at STV, Peter was Head of Development and part of the senior management team at Oxford Scientific Films for five years, where he created several high-rating factual series including Animal Odd Couples for BBC1, Secret Life of…strand for ITV and The Queen’s Garden for ITV.

Katie is the Talent Executive for Tinopolis Factual Group, where she works across Firecracker Films, Mentorn Media and Pioneer Productions. She is responsible for finding the best talent for a wide variety of non-scripted genres and is committed to building diverse and inclusive teams.

Katie has over 25 years of experience in the industry. She started her career as a researcher for Granada Television, before freelancing as a Producer and then Series Producer, primarily in reality and factual entertainment, on titles such as; I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Big Brother, Hell’s Kitchen, and Space Cadets, to name a few! 

She moved into Talent Managing in 2013 and is always keen to hear from new or established talent. Do get in touch. 

Since joining the Tinopolis Factual Group in 2010, Helen has worked on a wide range of productions from fast turnaround documentaries to feature length docudramas. She previously worked as Production Executive at Pioneer Productions, and was appointed Deputy Head of Production for the Group in 2022.

As Production Executive, Helen worked across all of Pioneer’s programming - which has recently included commissions for Discovery, National Geographic and More4. Now working across the group, Helen will be working on flagship shows such as Traffic Cops, and upcoming one-off documentaries such as Litvinenko: Murder in Mayfair for ITV and Vicky Pattison: My Dad, Alcohol & Me for Channel 4.