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Universal Home Ent. Family Prods. Ups Patti Jackson and Ellen Cockrill

To build and enhance its production efforts, Universal Studios Home Ent. Family Prods. (USHEFP) has promoted Ellen Cockrill to svp, animation production and Patti Jackson to svp, live action production.

Jackson will continue to oversee the development and production of live-action family fare, while Cockrill will supervise all animated series and movies for the group. They both report to Glenn Ross, gm/evp, USHEFP and will be based at the studioâs Universal City headquarters.

âAs USHEFP continues to aggressively augment its brand and create new velocity in the family entertainment arena, we are extremely fortunate to have two brilliant senior production executives in Patti and Ellen, who have clearly distinguished themselves in the areas of live-action and animation, respectively,â Ross comment. âIn addition to their immense creativity and unparalleled understanding of the made-for-DVD marketplace, they each have demonstrated a rare ability to successfully take a project from idea to completed product, time and time again.â

Cockrill, who joined Universal in 1996, was vp, television programming for Universal Home Ent. Prods. and Universal Cartoon Studios. She identified and developed animated television product, securing its national distribution and supervising its production. Series she developed include THE NEW WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW for Fox Kids; THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES for Kidsâ WB! and the forthcoming Cartoon Network series, THE LAND BEFORE TIME, based on the wildly successful film franchise; and the widely anticipated CURIOUS GEORGE animated television series that will launch on PBS in fall 2006.

Prior to joining Universal, Cockrill spent four years as exec director of development for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, producing projects including the Oscar-nominated animated short film, THE CHICKEN FROM OUTER SPACE, which served as pilot to the Cartoon Networkâs COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG series; and the Annie Award-nominated JOHNNY BRAVO pilot, also for Cartoon Network.

Previously Cockrill worked at the Samuel Goldwyn Co. as a story editor. She began her entertainment industry career as a development coordinator for Walt Disney Television.

Jackson joined Universal Home Ent. Prods. in 1993 as director of programming and was promoted to vp of production in 1996. During her tenure, she developed scripts, identified talent and supervised production for live action, made-for-DVD movies, including the forthcoming AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS: BAND CAMP, BRING IT ON AGAIN, DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT, SKULLS II & III (with producer Neal Moritz), BEETHOVENâS 3RD, BEETHOVENâS 4TH and the award-winning documentary, BEYOND THE MAT (with Imagine Ent.).

Prior to joining Universal, Jackson was vp of entertainment at J2 Communications/National Lampoon, where she oversaw acquisitions, development and production. There she produced the video, RICH LITTLE SCAMS ON GOLF; pilots, NATIONAL LAMPOONâS POP OFF AND NATIONAL LAMPOONâS TRUE FACTS and the feature film, NATIONAL LAMPOONâS LOADED WEAPON.

Before J2, Jackson was an independent producer developing and producing direct-to-video programs, television pilots, documentaries, theatrical shorts and educational films for a wide variety of distributors, including Universal, New World, Vestron and Goodtimes. She also served as west coast editor of CHILDRENâS VIDEO MAGAZINE and as a contributing editor and marketing consultant for SPORTS JOURNAL.

The USHEFP banner, which includes Universal Animation Studios, develops, produces, and acquires live-action and animated family productions directly for the home entertainment and television markets.

Universal Studios Home Ent. is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBC Universal, one of the worldâs leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Ent., NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.