MUMBAI: Sesame Workshop has named Susan Kolar to the newly created position of executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
Effective immediately, Kolar will oversee finance, legal and business affairs, human resources, facilities, information services and technical operations, services imperative to supporting the Workshop’s child-driven mission. She will report to Sesame Workshop chief operating officer H Melvin Ming.
Most recently, Kolar was senior vice president, finance at Oxygen Media where she helped procure major investments, strengthen their cable and broadband focus, manage strategic planning, and provide financial and management information while building the company’s infrastructure.
Kolar also served as executive group financial officer for e-citi at Citigroup, which launched Citibank’s new technology, e-commerce and internet initiatives. In addition, Kolar spent several years at Viacom in a variety of senior finance positions, concentrating on financial, strategic decision-making and business analysis for television, feature films, publishing and interactive media properties.
“We look forward to applying Susan’s expertise to the financial and strategic complexities of Sesame Workshop’s creative, brand-driven initiatives. Her unique and impressive career in the entertainment industry makes her a key member of our executive decision making team and we are proud to welcome her to the Sesame family,” said Sesame Workshop president and CEO Gary E Knell.
Tag: Sesame
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Sesame Workshop appoints Kolar as EVP and chief administrative officer
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Indianised Sesame to start airing by Dec’05
MUMBAI: Sesame Workshop, whose India operations launched last week, plans to start airing its Indian content by December 2005.
A research team comprising educators, media programmers and child development experts led by experts from New York is to identify the edutainment needs of the region.
Sesame Workshop project director for India Isheeta Ganguly gave an idea of the programming format which was being considered. Speaking exclusively to indiantelevision.com, Isheeta said, “The format has three key components, all of which we plan to produce locally. First is the studio segment which comprises the Muppets and the localised street set. The second segment is live action which will be reality based and shall focus on themes such as health and hygiene, team skills and building community empowerment, the third will be creative animation.”
Further commenting on the India operations she added, “We see this as a sustainable project that will not only be a TV programme but will support and contribute towards launching a pre-school education movement in India. Currently the New York research and production team is engaged in active discussions with various educationists and content providers.”
On being quizzed about which broadcasters were in the fray for collaborating with the workshop, Isheeta replied,” We aim to have a reach on both C&S and terrestrial TV and Radio. Talks are under way and we are looking at finalising deals in the near term.”
The Workshop has received a grant of $500,000 (Rs. 23.21 million) from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to design and develop part of the preliminary research content for the show.
USAID deputy director in the Office of Economic Growth, Madhumita Gupta told indiantelevision.com that, “USAID’s interest is to demonstrate and test how cutting edge tools like information and communication technology can be used to strengthen and enhance India’s development agenda, especially to get outreach to the underserved on a sustainable base that is culturally sensitive and acceptable. Our support to Sesame Workshop is on account of their focus on pre-school education which is critical in giving a heads up to students who are entering into the formal system. The idea is to get the pre-schoolers to associate learning with fun.”
Going by the immense goodwill and charm that Sesame carries (It has been airing for the last 35 years in the US and still going strong), it wont be a surprise to see Indian kids take to the Muppets in a big way!
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Sesame Workshop promotes Mascara to VP int. TV dist.
CANNES: In news from Mipcom in Cannes, US-based non-profit educational programming producer Sesame Workshop announced that it had promoted Renee Mascara to vice-president international TV distribution.
This puts her directly in charge of managing sales of all Sesame Workshop programmes, including Sesame Street, around the world. She will also be responsible for overseeing the creation of an internal resource sytem measuring broadcaster data as it relates to the organisation’s programme time slot and ratings.
Mascara will be reporting to Jennifer Monier Williams, vice-president global TV distribution. Mascara was earlier the associate vice-president, international TV distribution. -
Warner Bros. to expand Sesame brand In China
NEW YORK: In the first deal of its kind for both companies, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organisation, and Warner Bros. Consumer Products will partner to develop and distribute television, print, video, interactive and related merchandise based on Zhima Jie, the Chinese version of Sesame Street. The multi-media early learning initiative will run for an initial period of five years.
The partnership will seek local and global partners to support the creation of three new seasons of television with a total of 195 episodes of Zhima Jie. The goal is to begin airing the first season in 2004. The series encourages children to develop a life-long love of learning, as well as to help them learn to count, read, and respect and appreciate others. Targeted at preschoolers, Zhima Jie aired in China from 1998-2001 on Shanghai Television (STV) and was syndicated across the country.
The updated series will feature more interactive segments showcasing the Zhima Jie characters Hu Hu Zhu, Xiao Mei Zi, and Da Niao (Big Bird) in even more prominent roles. Sesame Workshop and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, in conjunction with Warner Bros. International Television, will jointly seek underwriting for the production.
An official release informs that Sesame Workshop will oversee content and the production of the series. The organisation has co-produced four children’s series in China in addition to the 1982 ground-breaking television special, Big Bird Goes to China, produced with China Central Television. Warner Bros. Consumer Products will mobilise its distribution, marketing, and consumer products expertise to partner with leading Chinese companies across a wide range of media and licensed merchandise. A dedicated staff, based initially in Hong Kong, will oversee marketing, sales and retail initiatives for Sesame branded programming and products. Warner Bros. International Television will be responsible for handling the distribution of the programming in China.
The partnership also includes the broadcast, distribution, and product development rights for Sesame English, a live-action series that introduces children and their families to conversational English, common expressions and vocabulary.
Executive VP, international licensing, worldwide interactive and publishing for Warner Bros. Consumer Products Mark Matheny said, ” The partnership will focus on the values of the Chinese marketplace and expressing these values through brilliant television programming, publishing, and creative merchandising.”