Nickelodeon Alum Russell Hicks Tapped at Top Draw

Grom Social Enterprises has hired Russell Hicks, formerly Nickelodeon’s president of content development and production, to lead Top Draw Animation.

Hicks will oversee Top Draw in addition to serving as chief content officer for Curiosity Ink Media, the original storytelling entertainment company he founded in 2016 and Grom’s newest division. The 2D animation studio has produced work for Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks Television and Nickelodeon, among others.

Wayne Dearing, whose career in animation spans more than four decades, including 22 years since founding and serving as managing director of Grom’s Top Draw Animation division, will retire in 2022.

Grom’s CEO Darren Marks said, “Wayne’s passion for animation is what built Top Draw into an incredible success story, and we are so proud to have its premium animation services as a centerpiece of Grom Social Enterprises. Wayne’s retirement leaves considerable shoes to be filled, and we are so elated Wayne helped us recruit Russell Hicks to lead Top Draw Animation to its next level of success. Thank you, Wayne, and welcome, Russell. Your collective talent defines the lifeblood pulsing through the new Grom. Cheers to you both!”