There’s a big shift happening in terms of where talent is headed as a new round of the streaming wars heat up headed into 2019. The big news of the day, Chris Nee, the Peabody, Emmy, and Humanitas Prize-winning children’s television screenwriter and producer behind Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins and Vampirina is headed for Netflix. Word came down this morning about a new, multi-year deal under which Nee will write and produce new animated and live action series for preschool and all audiences exclusively for Netflix. Additionally, Netflix will have a first-look option on feature film projects from Nee and her production company, Laughing Wild.
“The beauty of Netflix is that they don’t define me by what I’ve done in the past, but by who they think I can be in the future,” said Nee. “I love that they don’t believe in boxes but rather encourage creators to dream big and swing for the fences creatively. Just as important is my ability to define the culture of my company and double-down on finding and nurturing new and diverse voices. My mission is to create work that reflects the world we live in and lend a voice to the storytellers who haven’t always had access. I can’t wait to get started.”
Netflix continues to ramp-up it’s slate of animated offerings and event programming for families – something that started more than two years ago when Ted Sarandos announced plans to “double-down on kids and family content.” (I covered that both here and at POPSUGAR)
“Chris is an absolute master at crafting characters that kids want to spend time with and telling stories that are representative of all different types of families and communities,” added Melissa Cobb, VP – Kids & Family for Netflix. “She is among the very best and most prolific artists working in kids content today and we are so honored that Chris has chosen to make Netflix her creative home.”
