ViacomCBS Int’l Studios Launches Kids Division

ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS), the production arm of ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), has launched a children’s content division. VIS Kids will be headed by Nickelodeon executive Nina Hahn.

VIS Kids will create short- and long-form content for ViacomCBS brands and platforms and third parties. The company plans to launch more than 30 new kids’ shows over next three years, animated and live action alike.

Hahn is currently svp of production and development at Nickelodeon International, a ViacomCBS subsidiary. She will stay in that role while also heading VIS Kids. Continuing to report to Jules Borkent, evp of kids and family at VCNI, she will additionally report to VIS president Juan Acosta.

Based in London, Hahn will develop originals content in collaboration with the studio’s production and development teams across Latin America, the U.K., Spain, and Israel.

A 15-year veteran of ViacomCBS, Hahn has brought in more than 2,000 hours of original kids’ content during her tenure at Nickelodeon. She launched series like It’s Pony and Netflix’s forthcoming Shark Dog, and spearheaded international co-productions with territories like China and Israel.

Launched in 2018, VIS has grown into a central pillar of ViacomCBS’s content pipeline. It has 30 series in production and 50 more in development, and has produced and distributed kids’ shows like Club 57 and Noobees.

ViacomCBS plans to roll out its new streamer Paramount+ next year. The service is being positioned as a rival to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Overseas territories where it is set to debut in 2021 include Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics.

Hahn said in a statement:

I’m honored to be heading up VIS Kids and plan to establish deep, diverse, and inclusive roots in kids’ content. The launch of VIS Kids furthers our studio’s model of creating specialized divisions with central leadership, to ensure we can take full advantage of strategic opportunities that support VIS’s continued advancement.