Butch Hartman, the award-winning creator and exec producer of THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS and DANNY PHANTOM, has signed a multi-year deal with Nickelodeon Networks to create original animated and live-action programming for Nickelodeon and Noggin.
We are thrilled to be extending our relationship with Butch Hartman. He is an incredibly talented and prolific creator who has already brought two hit animated series to our air, said Marjorie Cohn, evp, development and original programming, Nickelodeon. We are looking forward to the continued energy and enthusiasm we know he will bring to the world of live action.
This deal gives me the opportunity to bring to life, via animation and live-action, some of the ideas and characters that have been screaming inside my head, said Hartman. Working with everyone at Nickelodeon over the past several years has been hugely satisfying and I look forward to forging the same kind of terrific creative alliances with the folks at Noggin.
Hartman joined Nickelodeon in 1997 as the creator/exec producer of an 11-minute animated short titled, FAIRY GODPARENTS, for the series, OH YEAH! CARTOONS. The short was picked up as the pilot for THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, which launched as a series in January 2001. The comedy series follows the adventures of 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his fairy godparents. The show is currently ranked as the number two kids program on all broadcast and cable television, with 14.2 million kids 2-11 tuning in each week. The series also boasts 10.8 million adult viewers per week and is the number one series on television among tween audiences (9-14).
Hartman is also creator and exec producer of DANNY PHANTOM, which launched in April 2003. The series already ranks as the fourth highest-rated kids show on all of television, with 8 million kids 2-11 tuning in each week. The series follows the adventures of Danny Fenton, a teenager who straddles two worlds as a shy high-school freshman and a heroic phantom-fighter with ghostly superpowers.
The deal was negotiated by Ellen Goldsmth-Vein of The Gotham Group, Aaron Kaplan of the William Morris Agency and attorney Bill Sobel of Edelstein, Laird and Sobel.
Nickelodeon, which now enters its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. The company includes television programming and production in the U.S. and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeons U.S. television network is seen in 88 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than nine consecutive years.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
