Television
August 2, 2002
Warner Bros. Television Appoints Key Executives In Comedy And Drama Development
(August 2, 2002 – Burbank, CA) - Marianne Cracchiolo and Rachel Kaplan join the creative team at Warner Bros. Television as Vice President, Comedy Development and Director, Drama Development respectively. In addition, Andrew Plotkin becomes Vice President, Drama Development; it was announced today by Steve Pearlman, Executive Vice-President, Creative Affairs, Warner Bros. Television.
Pearlman also announced the promotions of Wendy Steinhoff and Amy Byer to Director and Manager of Comedy Development, respectively.
“Promoting from within is something we always look to as a way to reward the people who have delivered and that we believe represent the future of our company. Andrew and Wendy are smart, thoughtful creative executives, who have become an integral part of our team and our success, and Amy has provided incredible support for the department and we’re thrilled to promote her to the executive ranks. We also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring Marianne and Rachel into the company. Their varied backgrounds and relationships with writers and producers will be a great addition to our team, and both bring a sense of enthusiasm and integrity that is what we’re all about,” said Steve Pearlman, Executive Vice-President, Creative Affairs.
Marianne Cracchiolo, who will report to Len Goldstein, Senior Vice President, Comedy Development, comes to the studio from Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, where she served as Vice President of Development for the television division. During her tenure at BGTV, she oversaw the development of “The Sopranos,” “Pasadena,” “The Steve Harvey Show,” “Naked Truth” and “Alright Already” for the company.
Andrew Plotkin, who reports to Susan Rovner, Senior Vice President of Drama Development, previously served as Director, Drama Development for the studio, and was involved in the development of new fall series, “Without a Trace,” “Birds of Prey” and the midseason entry “The Black Sash.” Before coming to WBTV, Plotkin spent time writing and developing scripts for television as well as in stints at Rysher Entertainment and TheRomp.com.
Most recently, Rachel Kaplan was Vice President, Development for writer-producer Jeff Kline, where she worked on ABC’s “That Was Then,” as well as a number of animated series, including HBO’s “Stuart Little.”
Previously, Kaplan co-founded Broker-Bronte Productions, where she co-executive produced MTV’s “The Lyricist Lounge Show.” Kaplan also worked at Fox Family Films, Giant Pictures, New World Entertainment and the William Morris Agency.
Wendy Steinhoff, who has spent the last two seasons as Manager moves up to Director, Comedy Development. She was involved in the development of the new fall series “What I Like About You,” “Good Morning Miami” and the midseason entry “Wanda at Large.”
Amy Byer was previously an assistant in the Development department.
Warner Bros. Television just wrapped a successful development season with seven new and eleven returning series on the new fall schedule, as well as three new series for mid-season. The studio placed new series on five out of six networks this year. # # #