As Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, looks to expand into the traditional TV space, the YouTuber is leaning on the expertise of former NBC unscripted TV boss Corie Henson.
Henson will serve as president of Beast Industry Studios, which oversees MrBeast’s YouTube channels and “Beast Games,” his Prime Video competition series that has been renewed for two additional seasons. MrBeast, who currently has over 440 million subscribers, plans to develop more scripted and unscripted series.
“MrBeast rewired how millions of people consume entertainment. I’m beyond thrilled to join Jimmy and Jeff to help build what comes next,” Henson said in a statement. “We’re not just creating franchises, we’re building worlds that actually matter to fans — and doing it across every screen.”
Henson will report to Beast Industries CEO Jeff Housenbold, who joined the company last year.
In 2022, Henson exited her role as NBCUniversal’s executive vice president of unscripted content, competition and game shows as part of a broader restructuring.
Henson has previously overseen hits like “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice” on NBC, “The Traitors” and “Love Island” on Peacock, and programming across the company’s portfolio of cable channels like Bravo, E!, Oxygen True Crime, Syfy and USA Network, which will be spun off by Comcast by the end of the year into a separate, publicly traded company called Versant.
Before NBCUniversal, Henson was EVP and head of unscripted for TNT, TBS and TruTV. She developed and launched an unscripted programming strategy that included “Wipeout,” “Hogwart’s Tournament of Houses” and more. She was also formerly the EVP of Fox Alternative Entertainment, spearheading strategy for shows like “The Masked Singer,” “MasterChef,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Beat Shazam With Jamie Foxx.”
Prior to Fox, she served as executive vice president of unscripted television for the multi-platform studio Electus, overseeing series including NBC’s “Running Wild With Bear Grylls,” truTV’s “Breaking Greenville” and National Geographic’s “Southern Justice.” She also served as ABC Entertainment’s vice president of alternative series, overseeing “Dancing With the Stars” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” as well as developing and launching “Shark Tank” and “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.”
Additionally, she previously produced a wide variety of shows for broadcast, cable and daytime, including CBS’ “Big Brother,” NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want,” Fox’s “On Air With Ryan Seacrest” and TLC’s “The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom.” She also executive produced the Critics’ Choice Awards and oversaw live red carpet coverage for the major award shows at E! Entertainment Television earlier in her career.
“Beast Games” first premiered on Prime Video in 2024, which saw 1,000 players compete for a $10 million cash prize, and went on to become the service’s most-watched unscripted show ever with 50 million viewers in its first 25 days. It was renewed for a second and third season in May.
The series is co-created by Donaldson, Sean Klitzner, Tyler Conklin and Mack Hopkins, with Klitzner and Matt Apps as showrunners. Klitzner and Apps also serve as EPs alongside Conklin, who returns as series director, Housenbold, Michael Cruz, Michael Miller, Josh Kulic, Chris Keiper, Charles Wachter, Keith Geller, Joe Coleman and Rachel Skidmore.
MrBeast previously announced he will also continue to release new content across his own YouTube channels, including more adventure and competition series, celebrity collaborations and behind-the-scenes content.
