Swartz joins Pioneer immediately from Banijay-backed American Playboy producer Stephen David Entertainment. He will take on a CEO role that has been vacant for more than a year at Pioneer, the producer behind Gold: A Journey with Idris Elba, How the Universe Works and The Unsinkable Titanic. He will lead the company's effort to expand a slate of factual content spanning feature docs, limited series and docuseries.

Swartz is a former WBD SVP of docs and specials, during which time he oversaw more than 100 hours of Shark Week programming and launched several limited docuseries including Serengeti narrated by Lupita Nyong'o and Emmy-nominated feature January 6th. He moved to Stephen David two years back and counts Arrow Media and PBS as former employers.

"Pioneer Productions has always stood for intelligent, ambitious, and entertaining factual content," said Swartz. "In the midst of this global television transformation, I'm looking forward to building a slate that honors the company's DNA while creating space for fresh voices, new topics, and formats that can entertain and inform audiences across broadcast, streaming, digital and whatever platform might come next."

Jennifer Roberts, who runs Pioneer owner Tinopolis, added: "Howard brings deep industry experience, a proven balance of strategy and execution, and strong relationships that I know will open doors to storytelling talent at the highest levels."

The past months have been a time of change for Pioneer, which opened in 1988 and was bought by Tinopolis in 2009. CEO Jonathan Hewes left early last year and the indie is also without a creative director following the departure of Thomas Viner. No word yet on whether Viner will be replaced.