Amazon MGM Studios fills last senior scripted role with Carina Walker named head of YA

Amazon MGM Studios has named Carina Walker as its head of YA, completing what the studio described as the final senior scripted position on Peter Friedlander’s global television team. The appointment, reported by Deadline on Aug. 26, places Walker in charge of the young-adult division within the scripted organization at the studio.

Deadline reported that Friedlander, who serves as head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios, announced the promotion internally in a memo. In that internal communication, Friedlander also positioned the change as the culmination of work to fill out his senior scripted roster, with Walker now taking the lead for YA.

Walker had already been working in the YA arena prior to the new appointment, according to Deadline’s account. Under the studio’s structure as described in the report, Walker will report to Friedlander, who remains the senior executive overseeing global television.

The news comes as major media companies continue to refine talent and leadership assignments across scripted development and production, an area that is closely watched by creatives and business stakeholders because it can affect which projects get priority for development, staffing, and greenlighting. While the report focuses on the staffing change rather than specific titles, the consolidation of leadership in YA can influence how young-adult material is organized and shepherded within a studio’s slate.

For audience-facing divisions, the YA designation typically maps to programming aimed at adolescent and young-adult readers and viewers, and the studio’s internal realignment indicates that Amazon MGM Studios is treating the segment as a distinct programming area rather than folding it broadly into general scripted development.

No additional details about Walker’s prior role scope or specific YA projects were included in the Deadline report summary. The published account also does not specify whether the staffing adjustment changes other senior positions on Friedlander’s broader global television team, beyond noting that the last senior scripted role on his team has been filled.

Amazon MGM Studios did not provide further public statements in the Deadline report summary about the strategic rationale for the appointment. The change nonetheless establishes a new day-to-day executive point person for YA within the studio’s scripted structure, with Friedlander serving as the reporting line senior executive.

The appointment takes effect within the studio’s internal governance, with Walker’s leadership role tied to Friedlander’s global television oversight. The next public indicators of the appointment are expected to be reflected, if and when they are disclosed, in development announcements, slate updates, or changes to who is credited as the executive lead for YA-related projects.