Focus Features has promoted Kiska Higgs to president of production and acquisitions, the studio announced Thursday.
In her new position, she will oversee the studio’s films and work on the studio’s development, production and acquisitions for its international titles.
Higgs previously served as Focus’ executive vice president of production and acquisitions. She also spent the last 15 years in the Universal family as a production executive in Los Angeles and the studio’s London office before joining Focus’ new management team in 2016.
During her time at Focus, Higgs was behind the acquisition of films like Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” and Robin Wright’s “Land.” She also worked on key productions like “Downton Abbey,” Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and Dawn Porter’s “The Way I See It.”
“I’ve had the good fortune of working with Kiska for 10 years, during which time her great taste, strong relationships and insights into the marketplace and the culture have been a not-so-secret weapon for Universal and then Focus,” Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski said. “We are extremely fortunate to now have her leading our creative team where she will grow our slate in scope, breadth and ambition in ways that all of us at Focus are excited to be a part of.”
Higgs added: “Over the past five years, it’s been a privilege to continue building Focus into a home for filmmakers at NBCUniversal, a company I’ve called my own home for more than 15 years. I’m thrilled to lead our creative team at a studio so uniquely dedicated to the global impact and power of storytelling through specialty film.”