Development Execs: Who They Are and How They Got There
In development is an entertainment industry term that, if a writer or producer is lucky comes right before in production (and hopefully not in turnaround). Its the job of the development executive to shepherd a project from its first greenlight to its slot on air. As the middleman (or woman) between the creator and the network s/he is in the tricky position of balancing the needs and wants of parties who may have different, if not opposing ideas of what a show should be.
Its not a job for the faint of heart. In fact, its one requiring people skills that would put a U.N. diplomat to shame. Where does this rare breed of executive come from? When it comes to TV animation, how do they learn the skills necessary to deliver the goods i.e., a hit show?
The answer to the first question is, youd be surprised. Cartoon Networks Michael Ouweleen started out in the advertising game. A series of commercials with British animation great Paul Vester led him to collaborate with Vester on a proposed series. My first experience with development was on the receiving end, Ouweleen recalls. We produced a pilot for Linda Simensky at Nickelodeon. It wasnt picked up, nor should it have been. It wasnt Lindas or Eric Colemans [Nickelodeons head of development] or anybodys fault. It was a cautionary tale about development.
Ouweleen joined Cartoon Networks on-air promotion department in 1996, back when Mike Lazzo and Simensky were handling development. While I was running on-air I dreamed up a couple of show ideas for the network. Then Adult Swim came along and I got to do a show myself, which Im still doing, writing and producing Harvey Birdman I learned a little more about development that way too. About a year ago Ouweleen already the networks creative director was put in charge of its development efforts as well and now oversees staffs in both Atlanta and at the Cartoon Network studio in Burbank.
We don't want people who want to be in development for other networks. They should want to just develop animation, and, more specifically, just Cartoon Network animation; it doesnt serve us well if they want to be in NBC development. On flip side, we cant just hire fanboys either somebody who knows everything about animation and thinks that makes them a good development person. They have to understand when a character or a story is sitting in front of them and when its not.
Nick Weidenfeld, Adult Swims manager of program development, never expected to find himself shepherding cartoon series to air. I was doing an article for Esquire about Adult Swim, it was going to be the first in-depth story about the Channel. The story never got published, but Mike [Lazzo] took me out to lunch and offered me a job.
In Weidenfelds case, his reputation as the editor of the alternative magazine While You Were Sleeping had preceded him to Atlanta. Mike had never heard of it its a young, niche sort of satirical magazine. All the Adult Swim staff, especially the art director and the head of programming, one of the Space Ghost writers had seen it, which really shocked me. Mike said I don't leave my house much, but if all my people like your magazine, there must be something there. That was definitely an edge I didn't think anyone read my magazine.
Peter Gal, Nickelodeons director of development, and David Wiebe, director of programming at Kids WB! share honors for the strangest animation development career path. I was actually a criminal defense lawyer, recalls Gal. I worked as an L.A. County public defender. I loved it but I wanted to do something creative. Back in college I wrote and performed in sketch comedy troupe I founded. I loved being part of the creative community and decided I wanted to do something in entertainment, so I took job as assistant to Richard Ross at the Disney Channel.
Wiebe also served in the public sector the military-industrial complex, to be exact. I came from working for a Department of Defense contractor in Washington. My job was turning government manuals into accessible web pages. Ive always been an entertainment junkie I went to every movie on opening weekend and watched way too much TV for my parents liking, including animation. At the time my wife and I had no kids, no mortgage. If we ever were going to make a really crazy decision like moving across the country and starting a career I had no experience in, now was the time to do it.





















Get execs out of animation!
It really makes no sense why these people can have such high...
No wonder there is so much crappy animation on the...
offensive blasphemous greed whore douchbags. ...
If I could stuff this much horse manure in a sock, I could...
Honestly, I have yet to laugh at a single animated "cartoon"...
Please, could you let me know how can I find studio...
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