Top Corus execs Lisa Godfrey, Pam Westman, Jeff Norton exiting in rejig

Canadian broadcast group Corus Entertainment has announced major restructuring that will see the departure of senior VP of original programming Lisa Godfrey, Nelvana president Pam Westman and Waterside Studios’ head Jeff Norton.

Lisa Godfrey

Rachel Nelson has been named VP of original programming and head of Corus Studios, while Mellany Welsh has been appointed VP and head of Nelvana.

The news was revealed on Monday by executive VP of networks and content Troy Reeb, to whom both Nelson and Walsh will report.

Godfrey, who has been with the company for 24 years and has spearheaded the growth of Corus’s originals slate and its Corus Studios distribution business, will step down from her role on January 31 as her position is eliminated.

Westman, who will also leave tomorrow, has been president of children’s animation studio Nelvana for five years and has been a key figure in several key global licensing and sales partnerships in Canada and internationally.

Pam Westman

Behind the scenes, it had been known for several months that Westman was looking to step away from the day-to-day running of the business.

Norton, who led Corus-backed Waterside Studios, is leaving the company on February 29. Norton was tapped to lead the IP and production company venture in September 2022 after Norton and Corus struck a multi-faceted deal.

Since then, Norton has sold Geek Girl, a Canada/UK coproduction based on Holly Smale’s teen novel of the same name, to Netflix. He was also responsible for selling several other yet-to-be-announced shows to US networks.

Corus said both Norton and Westman would be engaged in a consulting capacity for several months after they leave to support the transition.

Jeff Norton

Corus Entertainment has significantly downsized over the past year, with around 15% of its positions being eliminated in 2023 and the programming team undergoing a round of lay-offs in June.

These departures come amid sweeping restructuring and lay-offs across the Canadian media sector, with public broadcaster the CBC and private broadcast group Bell Media also imposing major cuts.

“Amid ongoing changes in the competitive landscape for Canadian programming and building upon many successful years of growing our slate of Corus Original content, the changes announced today support our focus on prioritising the highest return on investment for our own networks as well as international sales,” said Reeb.