Ramsey Naito Upped To President Of Nickelodeon Animation

Less than two years after joining the company, Ramsey Naito has been appointed president of Nickelodeon Animation.

Here are the details of her promotion:

In her new role, Naito will oversee the network’s animation content across all formats and platforms: linear, digital, tv movies, theatrical motion pictures, and SVOD. She will report to Brian Robbins, kids and family president at Nickelodeon’s parent company ViacomCBS.

Naito was previously executive vp of animation production and development for the Nickelodeon Group, in which capacity she oversaw the day-to-day running of its animation business, spearheading new projects and partnerships. Output has boomed, with more than 40 animated shows currently being produced, and the studio is on track to nearly double its production slate by the year’s end. Current shows include Spongebob Squarepants, The Casagrandes, The Loud House, Baby Shark, Blue’s Clues & You!, Santiago of the Seas, the upcoming Rugrats reboot, and the recently announced original series Middlemost Post.

New projects Naito has overseen include the upcoming series Star Trek: Prodigy; the adaptations of best-selling books Real Pigeons Fight Crime and Big Nate; the upcoming cg feature reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Spongebob spinoff Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years; and a new Smurfs series. Nickelodeon also struck a multi-year production deal with Netflix under her watch.

Robbins said, “Ramsey has led the transformation of our animation studio through the combination of impeccable creative vision and on-point business instincts, and her appointment to president reflects the scope of talent and soul she brings to our organization. In very short order, she has re-energized and rebuilt our animation teams while bringing in a string of new talent, storytellers, artists, production teams, and voice actors to elevate Nick’s overall animation output and leadership position even further.”

Nickelodeon’s animation studio has hired more than 150 people during the pandemic, and continues to work almost entirely remotely. “Now we’ve not only filled the studio,” Naito told Variety, “but so much so that now if we were going to move back to the studio next week, I don’t think we would fit.”

Before joining Nickelodeon, Naito was an executive at its sister company Paramount, where she oversaw production on the new feature The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run. Before that, she produced Dreamworks Animation’s Oscar-nominated The Boss Baby, and held executive or producer roles at Blue Sky Studios, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon Movies.

By ALEX DUDOK/CartoonBrew