Nickelodeon has named Jennifer Dodge to the newly created position of senior vice president, West Coast Development and Production, Nickelodeon Preschool. She will spearhead West Coast-based development of all original content for Nickelodeon Preschool’s programming block and the Nick Jr. channel, as well as additional preschool platforms such as the Nick Jr. app. She will report to Russell Hicks, president, Production and Development, Nickelodeon.
Based in Nick’s Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif., she will take pitches and develop creative assignments for preschool projects, the Viacom-owned programmer said. She will also help develop in-house talent and discover new artists and writers in the West Coast creative community.
Dodge joins Nick from Spin Master, where she was vice president and executive producer for Spin Master Entertainment, the company’s film and television subsidiary. She was the driving force in greenlighting more than 200 episodes of animation, including the launch of boys’ action properties RedaKai and Tenkai Knights, Nick said. Dodge also led Spin Master’s foray into preschool with the hit PAW Patrol (pictured), which airs on Nickelodeon and on which she is an executive producer. She is also the co-creator and executive producer of the recently launched preschool show Little Charmers, a co-production with Nelvana, for Treehouse in Canada and Nick Jr. worldwide.
