20th Century Fox Television has hired Jennifer Gwartz as executive vice president of comedy and drama development.
Starting Nov. 4, she will report to Carolyn Cassidy, president of creative affairs at Twentieth Century Fox Television, which is a label of Disney Television Studios. In her new role, Gwartz will oversee the scripted development of the label’s live action comedies and dramas, from identifying writers to steering ideas from pitch to pilot order. She will also oversee the drama and comedy development executive teams and lead the label’s live action scripted strategy.
“Jen is a smart, thoughtful leader and a champion of ideas and talent, which makes her the perfect person to lead our development,” Cassidy said. “I also value her ability to look at the process and possibilities of television from multiple perspectives as a result of her background as a studio executive and hands on producer. I know she will be an extraordinary asset as we seek to create quality television and bring both new and accomplished voices, properties and ideas to 20th.”
Gwartz added, “I’ve long admired 20th’s leadership in providing a home to some of the most extraordinary talent in our business. After many years as a producer, I’m honored to join Carolyn and her team and to help continue to make 20th a go-to destination for noisy, exciting and innovative artists and storytellers.”
Throughout her career, Gwartz has been an executive and a producer in both television and film. She most recently partnered with Jon Harmon Feldman to form Random Hill Productions as part of an overall deal with ABC Studios, where she served as executive producer on the ABC pilot “Triangle.” Previously, she spent six yers as head of television and chief operating officer at Dan Lin Pictures Television, which is part of Warner Bros. TV. There, she produced six pilots for cable and broadcast, as well as series including ABC’s “Forever,” The CW’s “Frequency,” and Fox’s “Lethal Weapon,” the latter of which she was an executive producer for three seasons. She has also worked in drama development at ABC Entertainment and Columbia TriStar Television, and served as president of Joel Silver’s TV division at Warner Bros., where she executive produced the pilots for “Prodigy,” “The Studio” and “Veronica Mars,” among others.
In features, she was an executive producer at Silver Pictures, where she worked on such projects like “Demolition Man,” “Conspiracy Theory” and “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Later, she worked at Cary Woods’ Miramax-based production company where she developed “Scream,” “Kids,” “Copland,” “Swingers” and “Beautiful Girls.” Additional film credits include “Lethal Weapon 4,” “House on Haunted Hill” and “The Matrix.”