Nickelodeon Names New President
Viacom appointed Brian Robbins as president of Nickelodeon, effective immediately. Robbins will report directly to Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom.
In his new role, Robbins will manage the creative and business operations at Nickelodeon and will be responsible for evolving the brand for a new generation of young audiences, including further bolstering its content pipeline through a mix of new and legacy franchises, and accelerating its push into next-generation platforms and feature film.
Robbins most recently served as president of Paramount Pictures’ Paramount Players division, where he worked closely with Nickelodeon and Viacom’s other brands to identify talent and properties to be developed into co-branded feature films. In his new role, Robbins will remain integrally involved in the development, production and marketing of all Nickelodeon co-branded films with Paramount Players, including Dora the Explorer, Rugrats and other current projects.
With Robbins’ appointment to Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures is commencing a comprehensive search for a successor to lead Paramount Players. In the interim, Wyck Godfrey, president of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, will oversee day-to-day operations at Paramount Players, with support from Robbins during a transition period.
Prior to leading Paramount Players, Robbins co-founded the multi-platform media company Awesomeness in 2012 and served as CEO. Robbins also co-founded the production company Tollins/Robbins Productions and was the founder and president of Varsity Pictures. In this role, he executive produced numerous television hits for teens and young audiences, including All That and Kenan and Kel, the latter of which Robbins adapted into the Nickelodeon feature film Good Burger. Robbins also executive produced Blue Mountain State for Spike TV (now Paramount Network) and produced and/or directed the Paramount films Varsity Blues, Coach Carter and Hardball. His other credits include the television series Smallville and One Tree Hill for CW, and Disney Channel’s Sonny with a Chance and So Random. His film credits include Disney’s Wild Hogs and The Shaggy Dog; DreamWorks’ Norbit and A Thousand Words; and Sony Pictures’ Radio.
Robbins is the recipient of a Directors Guild Award, a Peabody Award and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Pioneer Prize. He is also an Emmy Award nominee.