Dete Meserve to Head Wind Dancer’s New Kids’ TV Division

HOLLYWOOD: Production company Wind Dancer Films (Roseanne, Home Improvement, What Women Want) has set up a new children’s television division, to be led by Principal Dete Meserve.

Meserve, a seasoned creator and producer of film and TV content, will oversee Wind Dancer’s expansion into the kids’ television space, which began with the company’s first kids’ series, Ready Jet Go! Meserve is an executive producer on the animated space-themed show, which airs on PBS Kids in the U.S. and is being sold to broadcasters around the globe. She is also heading up Not A Box, an animated book-based series that is now in development. Additional projects are expected to be put into development in the coming months.

Meserve, who is also a best-selling author, has been part of Wind Dancer’s executive team for the past 15 years. Before joining the company, she was the VP of USC Radio, the University of Southern California’s radio network. She started her career as station manager for the National Public Radio affiliate in Evansville, Indiana, and assistant general manager of the PBS affiliate.

“As part of our growth strategy, Wind Dancer is always looking to expand into other areas of the entertainment arena and push the envelope for the type of content we can deliver to our audiences,” said Meserve. “Our move into animated kids’ TV is a natural outgrowth of the hundreds of hours of family TV and sitcoms we have produced for prime time. As a full-service studio, we are able to create and control the children’s properties that we develop—and the sky’s the limit for what we can accomplish in this genre. With children’s TV content being viewed and streamed by millions of kids around the world each day, we are in a unique position to reach them where they are and make a positive, lasting impact with our first kids’ series and the others to come.”

Joining Meserve at Wind Dancer’s newly launched kids’ TV division is Rusty Tracy, who has been appointed VP of animation. Throughout his career, Tracy has served as creative director on a number of hit animated series, including Wallykazam, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and The Penguins of Madagascar, among others.