Warner Bros. Animation has tapped digital media and children’s television executive Lisa Judson as president, replacing Sander Schwartz, a six-year studio veteran who recently transitioned into a production deal.
Judson’s hiring comes as Warner Bros. looks to expand its stable of famous cartoon characters beyond traditional production to broadband and other new media.
As a senior VP of marketing at Warner Bros. Entertainment sibling AOL, Judson, a 15-year veteran of the kids programming business who previously worked at Nickelodeon, played key roles in launching Mark Burnett’s Gold Rush, In2TV (an AOL-Warner Bros. broadband network) and Live 8 (the Web’s first Emmy winner).
“Today, it takes more than just compelling programming to break through in the highly saturated kids’ arena,” says Warner Bros. TV Group Rosenblum, who hired Judson. “We expect that she will step up our activities in the television production, new media and direct-to-consumer arenas.”
