Warner Bros. Television Announces New Development Team and Sets New Structure for Current Programming Department
(June 13, 2019 – Burbank, CA) – Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) today announced a new primetime scripted program development team, with Clancy Collins-White promoted to Executive Vice President, Drama Development, while Adrienne Turner has been named Senior Vice President, Head of Comedy Development. Additionally, WBTV creative executives Maddy Horne and Odetta Watkins have been promoted to Executive Vice President positions in Current Programming as part of a newly created structure for the department, with Horne overseeing current programming for broadcast network series and Watkins supervising series for premium cable channels and on-demand/streaming platforms. The announcements were made today by WBTV Presidents Susan Rovner and Brett Paul, who report to Warner Bros. Television Group President and Chief Content Officer Peter Roth. Collins-White, Turner, Horne and Watkins will all report to Rovner.
Susan Rovner said: “Clancy, Adrienne, Maddy and Odetta are all outstanding creative executives who have made invaluable contributions to the success of Warner Bros. Television. The lifeblood of any studio is generating compelling programming, and then keeping it relevant for fans and viable for buyers for many years to come. Clancy and Adrienne have helped develop some of our most successful shows, skillfully nurturing creative ideas, and giving our valued artists a platform to make their voices heard and to express themselves through their work. Maddy and Odetta have expertly collaborated with our talented producers, supporting their on-going vision and helping them to deliver their best, undeniable work every week, in an increasingly competitive environment. I am so excited to have this team in place to lead WBTV into the future.”
Development
Collins-White and Turner will help continue the creative evolution spearheaded by Rovner and Paul over the last five years to transform WBTV into a multiplatform supplier, continuing to expand its development efforts for premium cable channels and on-demand/streaming services, while maintaining its position as an industry leader in delivering programming to the broadcast networks.
As Executive Vice President, Drama Development, Clancy Collins-White will continue to spearhead the development of dramatic series for all platforms. At the recently concluded May 2019 broadcast network upfronts, WBTV secured series orders for four new one-hour series developed by Collins-White and her team: the highly anticipated DC action-drama “Batwoman” and Archie Comics “Riverdale” spinoff “Katy Keene” at The CW, thriller “Prodigal Son” at FOX, and courthouse drama “All Rise” at CBS. Upcoming non-broadcast drama series include “Watchmen” for HBO; “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings” and “Madam CJ Walker” for Netflix; and “Veronica Mars” for Hulu, among many others.
With her appointment to Senior Vice President, Head of Comedy Development, Adrienne Turner will now oversee the creation of new half-hour series, and she will manage WBTV’s comedy development team. Current comedies produced by WBTV include “Young Sheldon,” “Mom” and the upcoming “Bob ♥ Abishola” for CBS, “The Kominsky Method” and the upcoming “AJ and The Queen” for Netflix, “Little Voice” for Apple TV+ and “Shrill” for Hulu. Turner succeeds Erin Wehrenberg in this role.
Prior to her promotion, Collins-White had served as Senior Vice President, Drama Development, since 2010. During this time, Collins-White and the drama team developed a number of signature series, including “Arrow,” “Black Lightning,” “Blindspot,” “Castle Rock,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Doom Patrol,” “The Flash,” “God Friended Me,” “Gotham,” “The Leftovers,” “Lucifer,” “Manifest,” “The Originals,” “Person of Interest,” “Riverdale,” “Supergirl,” “Titans,” “Westworld” and more. Before that, she was Vice President, Drama Development, for three years.
Collins-White joined WBTV in 2004 as Vice President, Current Programming. In that role, she worked on the Jerry Bruckheimer Television–produced dramas “Cold Case,” “Without a Trace” and “Close to Home,” as well as “The Nine,” among others. Prior to joining WBTV, Collins-White was Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs, MGM Worldwide Television Group, after having been Vice President, Development, Paramount Domestic Television. She also held development positions at New World Television, Four Point Entertainment and Wilshire Court Productions.
Since 2010, Turner has served as Vice President, Comedy Development. During her tenure, she has developed half-hour series such as “2 Broke Girls,” the upcoming “AJ and the Queen” and “Bob ♥ Abishola,” “Mom,” “Selfie,” “Shrill,” “Splitting Up Together” and “Trial & Error,” among others. Turner started at WBTV in production before joining the current programming team as Manager, then earning promotions to Director and Vice President prior to moving into development. While in current programming, Turner managed series such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “Friends,” “The Mentalist” and “The Middle,” among others.
Current Programming
In her new capacity as Executive Vice President, Current Programming, Network Series, Maddy Horne will oversee a team charged with managing all creative aspects of on-going programs for the five broadcast networks. As of June 2019, WBTV is producing more than 20 scripted broadcast network shows, including such established hits as “Young Sheldon,” “Mom” and “God Friended Me” for CBS, “Manifest” and “Blindspot” for NBC, and “The Flash,” “Black Lightning,” “Riverdale,” “Supergirl,” “Supernatural” and a half dozen more for The CW, as well as highly anticipated new series “Batwoman” for The CW, “Prodigal Son” for FOX and “Bob ♥ Abishola” for CBS, among others.
As Executive Vice President, Current Programming, Premium Cable and On-Demand/Streaming Series, Odetta Watkins and her team will oversee WBTV’s non-broadcast series. WBTV currently produces nearly 25 shows for cable and streaming platforms, including “Westworld” and the upcoming “Watchmen” for HBO, “Shameless” for Showtime, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “The Kominsky Method” and the upcoming “Madam CJ Walker” for Netflix, “Castle Rock” and “Veronica Mars” for Hulu, the upcoming “Little Voice” for Apple TV+, and “Titans” and “Doom Patrol” for DC Universe, among more than a dozen others.
Horne and Watkins succeed the recently retired Melinda Hage as co-heads of current programming.
Horne joined the company in 2010 as Vice President, Current Programming, and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2016. During her tenure at WBTV, she has personally managed series such as “The Big Bang Theory,” “Blindspot,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” “The Kominsky Method,” “Mike & Molly,” “Mom,” the revival of “Murphy Brown,” “Riverdale,” “Young Sheldon” and many more.
Prior to joining WBTV, Horne had been a producer with an overall deal based at Paramount Television. While at Paramount, she was an executive producer on the CBS drama series “That’s Life,” created by Diane Ruggiero. Before that, Horne held various creative positions at CBS, including head of Current Programming, after having previously been Director, Drama Series Development.
Watkins joined WBTV in 2002 as Director, Current Programming, and was promoted to Vice President in 2010 and Senior Vice President in 2016. She has handled programming responsibilities for series such as “Black Lightning,” “The Carrie Diaries,” “Castle Rock,” “The Closer,” “Cold Case,” “The Following,” “Legacies,” “Major Crimes,” “Nip/Tuck,” “The Originals,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Roswell, New Mexico,” among others.
Before coming to WBTV, Watkins was Director, TNT Original Series, at Turner Broadcasting, after having been Manager. She previously worked in the drama development department at CBS Productions and the current programming department at the FOX Broadcasting Company.
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