ViacomCBS kids arm rejigs live-action

ViacomCBS Kids & Family has combined its live-action production under two executives following the departure of Awesomeness’ Shelley Zimmerman.

Shauna Phelan

Shauna Phelan and Zack Olin will oversee production of all live-action programming for the group, including the output of ViacomCBS-owned youth-skewing studio Awesomeness.

Zimmerman, previously executive VP of live-action at Awesomeness and Nickelodeon, left ViacomCBS recently to join The Morning Show showrunner Kerry Ehrin’s Bad Attitude Entertainment, which has an overall deal with Apple TV+, as president of TV.

Syrinthia Studer, who joined Awesomeness and Nickelodeon’s kids and family studio last year, will continue to head the combined entity’s live-action film studio.

Rebecca Glashow, who previously served as co-head of Awesomeness alongside Zimmerman, left ViacomCBS last year to join BBC Studios in the US.

Zack Olin

Phelan, Olin and Studer all report to ViacomCBS Kids & Family president Brian Robbins, who said: “As our content grows in demand from both our own audiences and from third-party platforms, consolidating all scripted live-action under Shauna and Zack streamlines our process to make the biggest creative impact possible.

“Syrinthia, Shauna and Zack are a formidable team of terrific storytellers, and they’re delivering an exciting slate of films and series that have been tailored to the full expanse of demos we serve, from kids to Gen Z.”

In other news, Nickelodeon will also premiere CG-animated series Deer Squad in the US on January 25.

The series is a result of a partnership between Chinese streamer iQiyi, Nickelodeon International and VIS KIDS, a division of ViacomCBS International Studios.

The adventure-rescue show follows four enthusiastic and heroic deer friends who protect the animals of Central Forest and the humans who inhabit Platinum City, a futuristic metropolis surrounding their woodland home.