In an election supervised by assemblyman Paul Koretz, chair of the California Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment, the writers from six of Nickelodeons animated series voted 19 to 2 in favor of Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) representation. Sequoia Voting Systems, an independent company that provides election services to unions and state and local governments, received and counted the ballots.
Assemblyman Paul Koretz, Chair of the California Assembly Labor Committee, has agreed to oversee an impartial election for union representation on behalf of writers on six Nickelodeon animated series. The election will take place Wednesday, October 3, 2001 at Nickelodeon Studios, 231 W. Olive Ave., Burbank. The polling place will close at 12:00 noon. Immediately following the vote Sequoia Voting Systems will tabulate the results and Assemblyman Koretz will announce the results.
The Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw), representing theatrical and television writers, has filed its third unfair labor practice charge in two months against Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Inc. (a Viacom subsidiary) for allegedly retaliating against employees of animated series who are seeking union representation and coverage by the guild's contract (MBA). The latest charge asserts that Nickelodeon illegally reduced the benefits of writers on the television show JIMMY NEUTRON, BOY GENIUS in retaliation for their activities in seeking WGAw representation.
Nick.com has announced the launch of its first online comic book, THE CRIMSON CHIN, an interactive spin-off of Nickelodeon's animated comedy series, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS. The TV series follows the adventures of 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his troublesome fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda. In August, in a move for TV and online convergence, THE CRIMSON CHIN Webisodes will debut as one-minute interstitials on Nickelodeon.
Industry giants Nickelodeon and THQ will soon be creating and publishing videogames based on original characters and storylines, with the ultimate aim being multi-media franchise development.
Nickelodeon, one of the leading entertainment brands for kids worldwide, is expanding its reach into China as of May 1, 2001. After visiting Beijing for four days and meeting with China's president Jiang Zemin and other industry officials, Bill Roedy, president MTV Networks International, and Frank Brown, president MTV Networks Asia, made the announcement.
On Wednesday, March 28, Nickelodeon and Universal Studios Recreation Groupannounced the signing of a strategic alliance for the development of newNickelodeon-branded attractions at various Universal theme parks. Under thenew agreement, the two companies will develop two major attractions, createco-branded promotions, sell merchandise and increase marketing andadvertising on the Nickelodeon cable channel. As part of the agreement,Universal will get rights to use Nickelodeon characters such as THE RUGRATS,
Nickelodeon has laid off 30 staffers as a streamlining measure. Most came from Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida. Nick spokesmen Dan Martinsen said, the East Coast branch is moving toward a "show-to-show production model." A source said that this move is due to the economy slow down and that no other lay offs are likely. Other Viacom divisions MTV, VH1 and TNN were not affected by the cost-cutting move.
Nickelodeon has promoted senior VP Andra Shapiro to executive VP of business affairs and general counsel. Shapiro will head all business and legal affairs for Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, TNN: The National Network, Nickelodeon Games & Sports and Noggin. Before joining MTV Networks, she was an attorney at New York law firm Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, where she handled copyright and trademark issues.
hey!, a New York multi-disciplinary design and production studio, has wrapped on "Nick Arithmetic," a 40-second global network image spot for Nick's international markets. hey! took still photographs of kids in various poses. The images were composited, along with graphic elements built in Illustrator and Photoshop, with animated backgrounds that string together the entire spot.
Nickelodeon has created its first fellowship program designed to encourage participation from culturally and ethnically diverse new television and film writers. Under the guidance of Nickelodeon production executives, four fellows will get hands-on experience with Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.'s live-action, animated television and feature film divisions for one year. "The fellowship program gives us an opportunity to nurture the talented pool of writers in our industry whose cultural experiences have traditionally remained underrepresented in television and film.
Nickelodeon and Toys'R'Us have announced an agreement to create a new Nickelodeon boutique channel on Toysrus.com to launch by fall of 2000. As part of the deal, the two companies will co-develop a Nickelodeon channel that will offer a wide variety of Nickelodeon licensed products, links between the sites, customized content and cross promotions. Moreover, Toysrus.com will acquire the inventory of Nick On-lines now defunct on-line toy store, Red Rocket. Terms were not disclosed.
Mattel, Inc. has signed a new multiyear worldwide licensing pact with Nickelodeon to renew and expand its current toy license agreement. The deal will include toy categories such as action figures, dolls, plush toys, games, handheld games, puzzles, and infant and preschool products. Mattel now controls all properties from Nickelodeon's children's television programming services, as well as Nickelodeon's motion pictures division, Nickelodeon Movies. As part of the deal, Mattel will be the international toy licensee for Nickelodeon's RUGRATS and BLUE'S CLUES in more than 30 countries.
Lolee Aries has been appointed vice president of production, Nickelodeon Animations Studios. At Nickelodeon, she will oversee the day-to-day production on all of Nickelodeon Animation Studios in-house projects including current series SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, HEY ARNOLD!, CATDOG, ANGRY BEAVERS, OH YEAH! CARTOONS! and the upcoming series CHALKZONE, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS and INVADER ZIM. Aries will also focus on the digital production process and boosting the utilization of in-house talent. Aries joins Nickelodeon from Film Roman, where she served as VP of production.
On November 10, 1999, Nickelodeon Online announced the premiere of a newNickelodeon channel on Apple's QuickTime TV (QTV), a leader on the Internetfor web-based video and audio. Nickelodeon's QTV channel will bring tocomputers around the world clips from Nickelodeon's new television shows,links to nick.com and nickjr.com, and other interactive items of kids.Also, the new NickTime TV will feature programming from Nickelodeon GAS,the first streaming sports network for kids. "QTV is the perfect network
Viacom's MTV Networks Online has announced the formation of NickelodeonOnline, a new Internet-only company that combines several already existingNickelodeon Web sites, as well as some new sites. Leading the new companyis Nickelodeon veteran Taran Swan, who has been named senior-vice presidentof the new company. Swan will report directly to Fred Seibert, president ofMTV Networks Online and Chairman of Nickelodeon Online. Prior toNickelodeon Online, Swan was the General Manager for Nickelodeon Latin
Nickelodeon is opening a new animation studio in New York City at 1515 Broadway which will be knownas Nickelodeon Animation Studio New York (NASNY). The digital animationstudio and development laboratory will open in October, although the movehas already taken place. Among the series that will be produced at the newstudio will be BLUE'S CLUES, LITTLE BILL, and GARBAGE BOY, a new weeklysegment for KABLAM!. The studio will house 140 employees including 70animators/digital designers. All phases of production other than
Klasky-Csupo's latest TV series, ROCKET POWER, will premiere on Nickelodeonon Monday, August 16 at 8:30 pm (ET/PT). Set in the fictional SouthernCalifornia beach community of Ocean Shores, ROCKET POWER features theadventures of four extreme-sports loving friends who chase the ultimatewave, ramp, or slope in quest of an adrenaline rush. ROCKET POWER isco-created and executive produced by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo,co-founders of Klasky Csupo, Inc. which also produces the extremely
SP0NGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, a new animated series which is being produced at theBurbank Nicktoons Studio, will premiere on Nickelodeon on July 17 at 10:00am ET/PT in the USA, becoming Nickelodeon's first original Saturday morningcartoon. A preview of the cartoon appeared on Nickelodeon on May 1, andreceived a 6.3 rating and a 25 share when it was watched by 6.9 millionviewers. The cartoon features the adventures of SpongeBob, a hopelesslyoptimistic and earnest sea sponge whose good intentions often lead to bad
Julia Pistor, a founding executive of Nickelodeon Movies, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of the division. Pistor, who will continue to report to Albie Hecht, President of Film and Television Entertainment for Nickelodeon, will relocate to Los Angeles from the company's headquarters in New York. She will be responsible for broadening Nickelodeon's feature development slate and continue its mandate to produce kids-first movies, star-driven family films and animated features.
Nickelodeon has announced a new endeavor tentatively titled "ProjectNozzle." This initiative will transform the Nick.com website from itscurrent TV-centric position into a full, free online service for kids.Project Nozzle, which will compete with Walt Disney's Disney Blast andDisney Channel's Zoog Disney services on the Disney.com site, will havesuch features as guided Web tours, auditoriums, bulletin boards, moderatedchats and e-mail, along with kid content from a wide range of content
Donna L. Freidman has been named Senior Vice President, "Kids WB!," the WB Television Network's children's programming service. In this newly created position, Friedman will creatively oversee "Kids' WB!" on a day-to-day basis, concentrating on current programming and the development of new series - both animated and live-action. Friedman joins the WB from a decade-long stint at Nickelodeon where most recently, she had been Vice President, Marketing/Associate Creative Director, Nickelodeon Latin America.
Nickelodeon made a major announcement Tuesday, December 8 regarding their 1999 lineup. 259 original episodes of returning shows, both live-action and animated, are scheduled for the 1999 TV season. The animated shows that will have new episodes are Rugrats, featuring the addition of new family member Baby Dil Pickles, Hey Arnold!, The Wild Thornberrys, CatDog, Oh Yeah!
Nickelodeon has signed a deal with Italian broadcaster Radio Televisione Italiana (RAI) to produce the first localized foreign-language version of Blues Clues. The show will premiere on the RAI UNO network in the second quarter of 1999. In Italy, RAI will localize the series by using the same blue-screen technology used on the original production to insert an Italian, live-action host into the existing computer animation. Nickelodeon plans to make similar sales to other countries, as this production concept was designed into the show from its inception.
The German broadcaster RTL has purchased four Nickelodeon animated series for broadcast in its weekend morning kids programming block. Hey Arnold!, Rockos Modern Life, CatDog and Angry Beavers will be introduced to the networks program line-up over the course of the next year. The sale comes on the heels of Nickelodeons withdrawal from the tough German market [AF 6/2/98] as a network. Nickelodeon ceased broadcasting on German airwaves in May, a decision motivated by weak ad sales and increased competition for viewers.
