Expanded Role for Mark Taylor at Nickelodeon Animation Studio

BURBANK, April
9: Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group has promoted Mark Taylor to senior VP
and general manager of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, responsible for overseeing
the day-to-day operations of the Burbank-based animation facility.

Taylor will
report to Brown Johnson, the president of animation, and Alison Dexter, the
executive VP of production for Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. His
expanded role as the senior VP includes production oversight of all current
Nicktoon series. Taylor has also been a driving force behind the expansion of
the network's CG production unit, and the studio expects to deliver some 30
hours of CG animation in 2008.

An 11-year
veteran of Nickelodeon, Taylor joined the company as VP and general manager in
1997. He was responsible for creating Nick University, an annex program for
studio employees offering courses in everything from management training to
foreign language to advanced art classes. Prior to joining Nickelodeon, Taylor
was the VP of animation production for Columbia/TriStar Television.

"Mark has
been a talented and energetic driver behind our flourishing animation
business," said Johnson. "He continues to raise the industry bar when
it comes to creating an environment that attracts the best and brightest
artists in the business and a studio that offers them a creative workplace with
today's most cutting-edge technology."

Added Dexter,
"Mark has traveled the globe to bring Nickelodeon some of the most
innovative animation partners in the world. And here at home, he's played a key
role in building our Nicktoons Studio into the most prolific producer of
television animation in the U.S."

—By
Kristin Brzoznowski