Nickelodeon Hires ‘Boss Baby’ Producer Ramsey Naito To Lead Animation Production And Development

Veteran animation producer Ramsey Naito has been hired as executive v-p of animation production and development in the never-ending game of executive musical chairs at Nickelodeon.

Naito will report to Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins, who is himself newly appointed to that role.

“Ramsey is a proven hit-maker and creative leader who has helped bring to life some incredibly imaginative characters for audiences of all ages,” Robbins said in a statement. “One of our goals is to exponentially grow our animation business and output on every platform, and I have no doubt that Ramsey will help us get there through a new generation of innovative, creator-driven content.”

In her new role, Naito will oversee day-to-day operations of Nick’s animation group. She will be in charge of both existing series (Spongebob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Loud House) and development of new animation projects across all formats and platforms — tv, film, and digital.

Chris Viscardi, who was senior v-p of animation and development at Nick, will transition into a producer role for the network, where he will focus on developing feature-length projects for both Nickelodeon and third-party digital and linear platforms.

Naito produced Dreamworks Animation’s The Boss Baby, which was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year. She also earned a PGA nomination for her producing abilities on the film.

Last April, Naito joined Paramount Animation in an executive position, where she oversaw production on the upcoming Spongebob feature, due in 2020 from Paramount. (Both Paramount and Nickelodeon are subsidiaries of Viacom.)

Prior to her gigs at Dreamworks and Paramount Animation, Ramsey had worked as a producer for Blue Sky Studios, as head of movies at Cartoon Network, and as vice president of development & production at Nickelodeon Movies.

Her executive and producer credits include Barnyard, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Hey Arnold! The Movie, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.