YouTube adds WGN’s Wax for scripted

YouTube has bolstered its originals team by appointing WGN America’s head of scripted television and promoting one of its senior comedy execs.

Jon Wax

Jon Wax becomes head of drama, scripted and current at Google-owned YouTube, while Dustin Davis has been made head of comedy development and current programming, having previously overseen current series at the firm.

Wax’s remit at YouTube will see him expanding the company’s drama development slate and working closely with Susanne Daniels, global head of original content, on series for subscription service YouTube Red.

His credits at WGN, where he had been exec VP of scripted since 2013, include Salem, Outsiders and Manhattan. Before that, he spent more than a decade at Fox on shows such as Prison Break and 24.

Wax is the latest WGN exec to move to a digital outfit after his former boss, Matt Cherniss, joined Apple yesterday.

Tribune Broadcasting-owned WGN was bought by Sinclair Broadcasting in June and has since moved away from original production.

Meanwhile, Davis has been upped having been at YouTube for a year, working on shows such as Do You Want to See a Dead Body?. He joined from ABC, where he was behind series including Black-ish and Happy Endings.

YouTube has been rapidly expanding its originals slate over the past year, ordering a flurry of series for its Red subscription service in June and more recently a spin-off from 1984 movie The Karate Kid.

In related news, YouTube has hired Angela Courtin to head up international marketing. She joins from Fox Broadcasting Company, which she left in March having been exec VP and chief marketing officer.