Former Tubi production chief Ashla Soter joins Digital Sword

Digital Sword has hired former Tubi production executive Ashla Soter as Executive Producer and senior vice-president (SVP) of Production. Deadline reported the appointment on 14 September 2026. Soter had left Tubi one month earlier.

She spent three years at Tubi as the first production hire for its originals push, meaning the drive to make its own shows and films. Her remit covered scripted programming, meaning written drama and comedy, and unscripted programming, meaning reality and documentary. In that period she oversaw more than 150 titles. The slate was big.

One of those titles was Sidelined: The QB and Me. The film counted as a seven-day ratings hit for the service. It then grew into a three-film franchise.

At Digital Sword, Soter will oversee production across the company's full slate. That means she carries responsibility for how projects are budgeted, scheduled and delivered. She will work directly with studios, brands and agencies that commission work. She will do that alongside global teams in editorial, colour, visual effects (VFX) and finishing.

Editorial shapes the cut. Colour sets the look. VFX adds or cleans up images. Finishing covers the final picture and sound polish before delivery.

She will also continue to produce select projects independently while holding the post. That work has included the feature documentary The Chainsaw Artist, on which she served as an independent producer. The dual role keeps her own producing practice running inside an executive job.

Digital Sword was founded by Cal Laird and Joan Pabon, according to the same Deadline report. The organisation represents editors and artists for hire across the industry. Its credits span film, television, advertising and music, four areas that now share much of the same talent and technology.

Online biographies describe her Tubi post as Head of Production, spanning production and post-production, and credit her with helping to build that function. They also list her as a member of the Producers Guild of America, the US body for producers.

For audiences, the change will not appear in a listing. It lives in the schedule underneath. When production leadership is stable, crews keep working and stories get finished. That work is invisible until it slips.