Cohn’s arrival at DreamWorks Animation provides experienced leadership as the studio significantly expands its television efforts. The studio’s TV efforts have seen substantial growth in the past year, beginning with the 2012 acquisition of Classic Media’s extensive property portfolio, followed by landmark production and distribution agreements with Netflix and Germany’s Super RTL earlier this year. Cohn’s 1,200-episode production slate will feature TV series that are based on DreamWorks’ current franchises, future films and the most popular heritage properties from Classic Media.
“Having Margie join us to oversee our television efforts is an incredible coup for DreamWorks Animation. She is uniquely suited with the experience, skill and creativity to immediately dive in and oversee our aggressive expansion into this space,” said DreamWorks Animation Chief Operating Officer Ann Daly. “Margie has tremendous instincts when it comes to kids’ programming, and we can’t wait to unleash her creative force on DreamWorks’ vast IP to bring exciting new content to families across the world.”
Joining Cohn as Head of Television Production is TV veteran Mark Taylor, who was most recently at the helm of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, which he built and grew throughout his tenure. While at Nick, Taylor served as Senior Vice President and General Manager and was responsible for all of the network’s in-house animation productions. Cohn and Taylor worked together for 15 years at Nickelodeon, during which time the network produced massive hits including SpongeBob, Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Fairly Odd Parents, Hey Arnold and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Peter Gal, the DreamWorks Animation executive who oversees creative on DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk and Turbo F.A.S.T., rounds out the new leadership group as Head of Television Development. Prior to three years as Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox, Gal spent five years at Nickelodeon, developing animated programming including the DreamWorks Animation-inspired Penguins of Madagascar, which has won multiple Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children’s Programming.
