Nick Taps Johnson To Head Up Animation Efforts
Longtime Preschool Executive Named To New Key Position
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 1/28/2008 9:30:00 AM
The charge of finding the next Dora The Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants will fall to Nickelodeon veteran Brown Johnson, who Monday was named to the newly created position of animation president.
Brown, currently Nickelodeon preschool executive vice president and creative director and Noggin general manager, will spearhead development and production of all animated programming across Nickelodeon and the MTVN Kids and Family Group, while continuing to oversee development and production for Nick’s pre-school programming.
Brown, a 20-year veteran of Nickelodeon who was the driving force behind the creation of Blue’s Clues and Dora, last month oversaw the launch of pre-school service Noggin which formerly shared a channel with tween-targeted The N channel, as a 24-hour service.
Johnson, 53, will now be the point person for launching later this year new Nicktoon animated series The Mighty B and The Penguins of Madagascar, based on characters from the hit movie Madagascarin partnership with film production company DreamWorks SKG.
Johnson -- selected as a Wonder Woman by Multichannel News -- will continue to report to Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami, and will be based in both Nickelodeon’s New York City headquarters and the Nick Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif.
“Brown has been an innovator from the moment she joined our company and has a great track record for spotting great, creative properties that resonate in the pop culture,” Zarghami said in a statement. “She takes on our storied animation group at a time when exciting new programs are on the horizon and international production and distribution are ramping up in very exciting ways.”
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