Amazon MGM Studios Names Carina Walker Head of Young Adult, Completing Its Creative Leadership Team
Amazon MGM Studios has promoted Carina Walker to Head of Young Adult, filling a role left vacant since Alex Weinberger departed in mid-June. Peter Friedlander, the studio's global television head, announced the appointment in an internal memo to staff on 26 August 2026. Variety
Friedlander credited Walker for Prime Video's YA successes including Off Campus and Every Year After, and noted she has spent a collective 9.5 years at Amazon working across drama, international, and young adult programming. Her tenure has spanned some of the platform's most recognisable titles.
Walker first joined Amazon Studios in 2013, where she worked on shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Goliath. She also helped launch Prime Video International, developing local-language content — shows produced in the language of their home market rather than in English — for India, Japan, Spain, France, and Mexico. In late 2017, Apple hired her away for a similar international development role, one of three Amazon executives Apple recruited at the time, with all three joining in January 2018. Deadline Her move came in the context of Jennifer Salke's appointment as head of Amazon Studios, which prompted several executive departures. IndieWire
At Apple TV, Walker worked on Masters of the Air, Shantaram, and Monarch. She returned to Amazon in 2021 as senior development executive for drama, overseeing series like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Young Sherlock alongside YA fare. According to her speaker biography at the Banff Media Festival, she has spent thirteen years on the buying side — the part of the business that decides which shows get ordered — working across everything from high-octane action to local-language drama. Banff Media Festival
Walker's promotion arrived days after news that Netflix executive Andy Weil would join Amazon as head of comedy. With both positions filled, Friedlander told staff the studio's creative leadership team is now complete: Kara Smith leads Drama, Blair Fetter oversees Worldbuilding, Walker takes Young Adult, Weil heads Comedy, Jenn Levy runs Nonfiction, and Melissa Wolfe leads Animation. Variety
What stands out is the sweep of Walker's résumé. She has moved between two of the biggest streaming platforms and back again, worked in both English and local-language originals, and touched everything from prestige comedy to spy thrillers. YA is a category that lives or dies on knowing what younger audiences want to watch next — and Walker has now been handed the slot to make those calls.
