Pearlena Igbokwe is Chairman, Television Studios, NBC Entertainment & Peacock Scripted. She oversees NBC Entertainment, including scripted, unscripted, late-night, live events and specials, all scripted originals for Peacock and Universal Studio Group (USG).
With her expanded purview Igbokwe now leads the teams responsible for notable programs such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Hacks, The Day of the Jackal, Dick Wolf's enormously successful Law & Order, One Chicago and FBI-branded series, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, America's Got Talent, Based on a True Story, Suits LA, We Are Lady Parts, A Man on the Inside, The Americas and The Voice.
Since 2020, Igbokwe has served as Chairman of USG and its world-class library of television series from Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios and Universal Television Alternative Studio. The four television studios have produced more than 3,000 hours of programming airing or streaming around the globe. Under Igbokwe's leadership, USG had #1 shows on Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Peacock and Hulu, as well as NBC, Sky and CBS.
She and her team support a slate of ambitious storytellers, including Michael Schur, Tina Fey, Jordan Peele, Darren Star, Nahnatchka Khan, Seth MacFarlane, Julie Plec, Amy Poehler, Tanya Saracho, David Heyman, Lorne Michaels, Gareth Neame, Debra Martin Chase, Nick Antosca, Kevin Williamson, Sue Naegle and Dick Wolf, among numerous others.
Previously, Igbokwe was President, Universal Television, where she oversaw creative development, casting and production and led the division to new heights with record production output. Some of her development highlights include Russian Doll, The Gilded Age, New Amsterdam, The Bold Type, Good Girls and Dick Wolf's FBI-branded series, among numerous other notable projects. In a highly competitive landscape, Igbokwe was able to secure pickups for her projects on every major streaming service, a variety of premium cable outlets and every broadcast network.
Before her studio role, Igbokwe served as Executive Vice President, Drama Programming for NBC Entertainment, where she developed the top-rated new broadcast dramas for three out of her four years in the role (The Blacklist, Blindspot and This Is Us). Previously, she worked at Showtime for 20 years, where she was involved in developing the pilot and overseeing the first five seasons of Dexter, Showtime's most popular series ever. She also developed and supervised the Emmy Award-winning and critically acclaimed original series Nurse Jackie and developed the pilot for Masters of Sex. In addition, she shepherded Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, Damon Wayans' The Underground, and the television adaptation of the hit feature film Barbershop. She was also instrumental in the five-season run of the hit Showtime series Soul Food, a two-time NAACP Image Award winner for Best Drama Series.
She currently serves on the Television Academy Executive Committee, the Friends Board of the Saban Community Clinic and the Alliance for Children's Rights Board.
Igbokwe has a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia University. She was born in Nigeria and resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
