Bulking Up On Cartoons

Another company has decided, what with animation being a lucrative corner of the entertainment biz, it might be wise to have an animation exec ...

... CBS TV Studios’ animation slate is expanding, with more series in development; the studio has promoted SVP Comedy Development Alec Botnick to SVP Comedy Development and Head of Animation. This is the first time CBS TV Studios has had a dedicated animation executive.

... [Botnick] will be supervising the studio’s current animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Nickelodeon Star Trek and Our Cartoon President, as well as all future development. ...

CBS is doing what so many animation divisions do: make one of the suits with minimal experience in animation the "Head of Animation". It might not be the smartest move, but it's what most large corporations know and are comfortable with. So that what most do.

And sometimes this works out (Jeffrey Katzenberg from DreamWorks), but oftentimes not (Sharon Morrill and David Stainton from Disney. Egads.). Some non-creatives, of course, have been screaming successes. Both Chris Meledandri (Illumination Entertainment) and Margie Cohn of DreamWorks Animation have had years in the business and years to learn from their mistakes. But the question remains: why aren't more artists, writers and other creative types in charge of studios? Is it a lack of imagination? Or is it that old habits die hard?

Probably some of both.