From left to right: Sidney Clifton, Amy Suh, Cory Bennett Lewis
Mattel, Inc (NASDAQ: MAT) has announced three key appointments to Mattel Television Studios’ executive team. Sidney Clifton has been named Head of Creative, Animation, Cory Bennett Lewis has been named Head of Production, and Amy Suh has been named Head of Creative, Live Action – Scripted & Unscripted. All three will report directly to Michelle Mendelovitz, Global Head of Mattel Television Studios.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sidney, Cory and Amy to Mattel,” said Michelle Mendelovitz, Global Head of Mattel Television Studios. “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.”
Emmy-nominated producer Sidney Clifton has over 20 years of experience as an executive producer and development executive overseeing animated and mixed-media content for some of the biggest brands in the world. She most recently served as Producer and SVP of Animation and Mixed Media at The Jim Henson Company. Prior to The Jim Henson Company, she brought her creative talents to various roles at Deluxe Animation Studios, Riot Games, Bento Box Entertainment and Film Roman Animation. Clifton’s body of work includes productions such as the Children and Family Emmy-nominated Slumberkins as well as Marvel’s animated Black Panther, Me, Eloise!, The Happy Elf, Hellboy: Sword of Storms, Hellboy: Blood and Iron, and Stan Lee’s The Condor and Mosaic.
Cory Bennett Lewis is a highly experienced producer in both television and film, and has collaborated alongside some of the most well-known producers, directors, and studios in entertainment. Most recently serving as J.J. Abrams’ Head of Production at Bad Robot, Lewis oversaw all aspects of production, visual effects and post-production and was a part of the Bad Robot producing team for the BAFTA and Oscar-winning animated short The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. Throughout her career, Lewis has built a strong pedigree being a part of legendary worldwide franchises including Star Wars, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Alice in Wonderland, Jack Ryan and Cloverfield. Lewis has also managed and produced projects including Lovecraft Country for HBO, Lisey’s Story and Little Voice for Apple, Castle Rock for Hulu, and more.
Amy Suh most recently served as a Senior Development Executive in Co-Production Development for Amazon Studios, where she worked on some of the platform’s biggest upcoming series such as Noir and Silk, plus Blumhouse’s Kay Scarpetta. She also brought in and spearheaded development for The Better Sister. Before joining Amazon’s Co-Production 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 the horror anthology series Them and the young adult series Party of Five. Prior to Sony, she worked in international programming at Fox Networks Group.
Mattel Television Studios is premiering 16 series/specials this year with 14 series/specials currently in production, plus 30+ series/specials in development. The team is ramping up its creative ambitions to meet the high demand for its globally recognized brands and franchises by taking their already robust animated content slate which includes series and specials based on Barbie, Hot Wheels, Barney, Bob The Builder, Polly Pocket, Thomas & Friends, Masters of the Universe, Monster High, and more, to expand those iconic IP into premium scripted, unscripted and documentary projects for fans across the globe. Elevating the bar and focusing on entertaining audiences to bring them bold stories, characters they connect with and imaginative worlds at any age – childhood to adults. Mattel’s latest example in animation is Hot Wheels Let’s Race which spent four weeks in Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV Shows and was a Top 10 television title in 69 countries.