Award-Winning Creator/Executive Producer Butch Hartman Partners With Nickelodeon Networks For Multi-Year Deal

Award-Winning Creator/Executive Producer Butch Hartman Partners With Nickelodeon Networks For Multi-Year Deal

Executive Producer/Creator of Nickelodeon Hit Series The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom Will Produce Animated and Live-Action Television Projects For Nickelodeon and Noggin

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Butch Hartman, the award-winning creator and executive producer of the hit Nickelodeon series "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, it was announced today by Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon.

"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 Cohn. "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," says 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/executive 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. An irreverent, action-packed comedy series which follows the adventures of 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his fairy godparents, the series is currently ranked as the number two kids' program on all broadcast and cable television, with 14.2 million kids aged 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 year-olds). Hartman is also creator and executive producer of "Danny Phantom," which launched in April 2003. A relative newcomer to the Nickelodeon line-up, 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. A fantastic action-packed animated series, "Danny Phantom" 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.

Hartman has been a leading creative voice in the family entertainment arena for many years. He got his start working with legendary animation director Don Bluth on "An American Tail" and then was a character designer and storyboard artist at Marvel Productions. After a stint as an animator on the show "Family Dog" for Amblin Television, he joined Hanna-Barbera in 1991. During his six year stint there he was storyboard artist and later director on many Hanna-Barbera productions and created his own shorts for the series, "What A Cartoon!" He also wrote and directed episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken and Johnny Bravo before turning out three more shorts -- Pfish & Chip, Hillbilly Blue and Gramps. Hartman has been nominated for four Emmy Awards for his work on the series and has garnered several Annie Award nominations as well.

The deal was negotiated by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein of The Gotham Group, Aaron Kaplan of the William Morris Agency, and attorney Bill Sobel of Edelstein, Laird and Sobel.

Recognized as the powerhouse management firm in the animation industry with powerful ties to an enormous amount and variety of creative content, The Gotham Group boasts a roster of over 250 top directors, writers, producers, illustrators, artists and content creators, providing a full range of services in both live action and animated feature film and television including packaging, corporate consulting, strategic career planning, children's programming, prime time television series, and animated and family entertainment content for emerging new media. The firm also reps live action writers and directors and packages live action movies and is a prolific producer of family entertainment.

Nickelodeon, which now enters its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's 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. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.


Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Nicole Mazer of Nickelodeon Communications, +1-818-736-3613,
Nicole.mazer@nick.com; or Maggie Begley of Maggie Begley Communications,
+1-310-301-1785, mbegley@aol.com, for Butch Hartman

Web site: http://www.nick.com/


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