Wheelhouse taps Whitney White at Butternut, Liz Fine for programming
Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment has released ‘Dr. Pimple Popper” producer Whitney White as head of programming at food and lifestyle division Butternut, and promoted Liz Fine to head of programming for Wheelhouse itself.
The leadership additions follow the launch of Wheelhouse’s new crime and investigation brand Twist and after the company received a minority investment from private equity firm Alignment Growth.
Working under Butternut President Courtney White, Whitney White will oversee and create IP, working with existing and emerging talent across food, home and lifestyle. Wheelhouse’s current slate of Butternut series includes Food Network’s “Next Baking Master: Paris,” HGTV’s “Divided by Design” and Roku’s “Celebrity Family Food Battle,” as well as other currently unannounced projects.
Best known for creating TLC’s hit series “Dr. Pimple Popper” while head of development at Ping Pong Productions, Whitney White was previously executive vice president at All3Media-backed Woodman Park Productions, with credits including “Battle of the Brothers” for Discovery+ and Food Network, “Crack Addicts” for TLC, “Man With A Van” for ID and Snapchat’s “Deep Creek.”
Most recently, Fine served as SVP of programming for both Spoke Studios and Butternut. She joined Wheelhouse in 2021 as an executive producer and has worked on numerous shows for Spoke. At Wheelhouse, Fine’s credits include Netflix’s ‘Buying Beverly Hills’, Hulu’s ‘Bianca & Montez: Love & WWE’, ‘Secret Chef’ and the upcoming ‘Got To Get Out’, and ID’s recently premiered ‘Bodies in the Water’ .
Before Wheelhouse, Fine was senior vice president of original series at VH1 and MTV, and previously vice president of programming and development for FYI.
In their respective new roles, White and Fine will both work closely with Wheelhouse Entertainment’s production teams across their labels, which currently include Spoke Studios, Butternut, DNA, Twist and Wheelhouse UK.
“We have focused at Wheelhouse on bringing together creative specialists with expertise in different genres and with different production styles, but whose superpowers include the ability and desire to collaborate within the group,” said Montgomery.
Courtney White added: “As our industry continues to evolve, we are leaning even further towards teamwork and partnership and that has fueled both our creativity and our ambitions. There is no doubt that Whitney and Liz personify this strategy, and they are also simply great people to work with on a daily basis.”
