Los Angeles – Russell Hicks, a 14-year Nickelodeon veteran and its Chief Creative Officer since 2008, has been named to the new position of President, Content Development and Production for the Nickelodeon Group.

The newly created position establishes centralised, West Coast leadership of all Nickelodeon’s content teams, and provides direct, on the ground oversight of the network’s development slate. Hicks will be based at Nickelodeon’s Burbank and Santa Monica, California, offices, where he will lead the company’s live-action, animation development and production teams for all of Nickelodeon’s content platforms.

Nickelodeon also announced that Brown Johnson, who has served as the President of Animation since 2008, will be leaving her role to pursue her own creative endeavors. Johnson oversaw the network’s successful partnerships with DreamWorks Animation SKG, as well as the brand-new, CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She was also responsible for leading Nickelodeon’s groundbreaking preschool programming, including Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer, for more than two decades.

“Brown’s contributions to Nickelodeon are many, including being the key architect behind our preschool leadership,” added Zarghami. “She leaves an indelible impact on generations of kids for which we will always be incredibly grateful.”

Hicks, as Nickelodeon’s Chief Creative Officer, oversaw all of Nickelodeon Creative, On-air Promotions, Consumer Products, Brand and Advertising divisions, and led the product development and creative positioning of Nickelodeon’s brands and properties.