Melanie Frankel has been named Head of Comedy at ABC Studios, part of Disney Television Studios.
The promotion puts Frankel in charge of developing comedy projects for the studio across all of its partners, both in-house and outside of Disney Television.
“ABC Studios is 100% talent-focused. Melanie’s long-standing relationships in the creative community and her incredible ability to support and nurture talent at all levels make her the ideal person to run our comedy team,” said ABC Studios President Jonnie Davis.
Frankel has been with the studio as vice president of current series since 2015. She recently oversaw the launch of the studio’s new drama “Stumptown,” and also served as the “American Housewife” and “A Million Little Things.”
She previously worked in the studio’s comedy department from 2007 to 2011, before leaving to serve as USA Network’s head of comedy development. There, she developed series like “Playing House,” “Sirens” and “Benched.” She later returned to the ABC Studios current department to oversee comedy and drama series. Her past jobs have also included working in development at Imagine and Grammnet.
Other series currently in production at ABC Studios include “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Marvel’s Runaways,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Emergence.” Its drama “How to Get Away With Murder” returned for its sixth and final season at the end of September.