Nickelodeon has hired Oscar-nominated “Boss Baby” producer Ramsey Naito as executive vice president of Animation Production and Development, in charge of the network’s animation content across all formats and platforms — including digital, TV and film — Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins announced Tuesday.
Naito will be based in Nickelodeon’s Burbank, California, studio and report directly to Robbins. This marks Robbins’ second hire since he took over Nick last month. Last week, he named Shauna Phelan head of Nick’s live-action scripted content.
Chris Viscardi, Nickelodeon’s former senior vice president of Animation and Development who was previously leading the department, will now be moving into a producer role for the children’s network. He will oversee the creation of feature-length animated content for both Nickelodeon and third-party digital and linear platforms.
Naito will be responsible for managing Nickelodeon’s animation group’s day-to-day operations, plus identifying new talent and projects for the kids’ network. She will also oversee Nick’s animated franchises, including “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “The Loud House.”
Naito most recently oversaw production on Paramount Pictures’ “SpongeBob SquarePants” movie, slated for 2020 release. She produced DreamWorks Animation’s Oscar-nominated feature, “The Boss Baby,” and received a PGA nomination for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures.
She previously worked as a producer for Blue Sky Studios, at Cartoon Network as head of movies and at Nickelodeon Movies as vice president of Development & Production.
Here are her other producing credits: “Barnyard” (2006), “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” (2004), “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” (2002), “Hey Arnold! The Movie” (2002), “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” (2001), “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie” (2000), and “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” (1999).
Naito is a member of Women in Animation and the Producers Guild of America. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art and her Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts.
“Ramsey is a proven hit-maker and creative leader who has helped bring to life some incredibly imaginative characters for audiences of all ages,” said Robbins. “One of our goals is to exponentially grow our animation business and output on every platform, and I have no doubt that Ramsey will help us get there through a new generation of innovative, creator-driven content.”