Mattel TV Studios hires trio for scripted, unscripted, animation and production
L-R: Amy Suh, Sidney Clifton and Cory Bennett Lewis
The television studio arm of Barbie owner Mattel has made a trio of appointments in roles covering scripted and unscripted live-action content as well as animation and production.
Amy Suh has been named head of creative for scripted and unscripted live action; Sidney Clifton is the new head of creative for animation; and Cory Bennett Lewis has been appointed head of production.
All three will report to Michelle Mendelovitz, the global head of Mattel Television Studios.
Suh most recently served as a senior development executive in coproduction development for Amazon Studios, where she worked on series such as Noir and Silk, plus Blumhouse’s Kay Scarpetta.
Before joining Amazon’s coproduction team, she was a senior executive on the genre development team where she worked on shows including Paper Girls and Night Sky.
Prior to joining Amazon, Suh was a Sony Pictures Television executive where she worked on scripted drama projects across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms, including horror anthology series Them and young-adult series Party of Five. Prior to Sony, she worked in international programming at Fox Networks Group.
Clifton, meanwhile, has over 20 years of experience as an executive producer and development executive overseeing animated and mixed-media content.
She most recently served as producer and senior VP of animation and mixed media at The Jim Henson Company.
Prior to The Jim Henson Company, she held roles at Deluxe Animation Studios, Riot Games, Bento Box Entertainment and Film Roman Animation.
Bennett Lewis most recently served as JJ Abrams’ head of production at Bad Robot, overseeing all aspects of production, visual effects and post-production.
As well as animated short The Boy, The Mole, The Fox & The Horse, Lewis has managed and produced projects including Lovecraft Country for HBO, Lisey’s Story and Little Voice for Apple and Castle Rock for Hulu.
The appointments come as Mattel Television Studios gets set to premiere 16 series and specials this year, with at least 30 more in development.
Its animated slate includes content based on brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Barney, Bob the Builder, Polly Pocket, Thomas & Friends, Masters of the Universe and Monster High.
It is also planning to make premium scripted, unscripted and documentary projects based on its library of IP.
Mendelovitz said: “Their breadth of experience working with top-tier talent across multiple genres and proven expertise creating series for global audiences make them perfectly suited for Mattel Television Studios’ next phase of growth.
“As we together build a home for best-in-class creators, taking Mattel’s iconic IP to make innovative, inspiring, and entertaining television series that reflect the diverse and inclusive world we live in for our muti-generational fans, I look forward to the amazing work this exceptionally talented, female-led studio will do.”
