Amazon Hires Netflix Documentary Executive Liz Franco for Nonfiction Team
Amazon has hired Netflix executive Liz Franco as a Creative Executive on its nonfiction team, meaning the unit that develops documentaries and unscripted series. The appointment was reported on 21 September 2026, according to Deadline. Franco will report to Ariane Wu.
Wu is Senior Creative Executive, Documentary Series at Amazon, reporting to Jenn Levy. Wu also joined Amazon from Netflix earlier in 2026. The chain is short.
Franco spent five years at Netflix. She joined the streamer in October 2021 as Manager, Original Documentary Series. She rose through the documentary group during a busy period for true crime, sport and biography.
Her Netflix credits include Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, Simone Biles Rising and American Murder: Gabby Petito. Those titles cover fashion television, music, Olympic sport and criminal justice. Each was released as a documentary series or film under the Netflix Originals banner.
Her other Netflix work includes Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, Chef’s Table, Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?, Death of a Pastor’s Wife and the Turning Point franchise. The Turning Point franchise is Netflix’s long-running documentary strand on major political and historical moments. Together the credits show a mix of single stories and returning series.
Before Netflix, Franco spent two years at CNN. There she worked on United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell, This Is Life with Lisa Ling and Lincoln: Divided We Stand. Those are presenter-led documentary programmes made for American cable. Prior to CNN, she held roles at Vox Media and WME, the media company and the talent agency.
Her background sits outside the usual production path. Credited as Elizabeth Franco, she is described as an Afro-Latina creative executive and producer. She graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2015, according to UCLA Law. She is a Double Bruin, the university’s term for a student who attends UCLA for both undergraduate study and postgraduate school, and she majored in communication studies as an undergraduate.
What makes this stand out is the route. Wu moved from Netflix to Amazon earlier this year. Franco now follows. For crews and producers, that matters. A familiar executive in a new slot can decide which pitches get read and which stories get finished.
