The animation and production & development teams for Nickelodeon International have been hit hard by staff cuts, but there’s still a new project in the works.
Paramount International kids & family executives Chris Rose (pictured, Vice President of production & development) and Adam Bailey (director of animation) have just been laid off from the UK-based team under parent company Paramount Global’s round of lay-offs, with Jordan Elson (manager of production & development) set to leave at the end of the summer.
The company’s production & development unit for Nickelodeon has made series including Sharkdog, The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj and Rock Island Mysteries, and Rose referenced another project in the works but still under wraps in a LinkedIn post confirming the cuts.
These execs are among 800 Paramount staffers (about 3% of the company’s total workforce) being laid off to reduce a debt pile of around US$15bn. This wave has already hit other kids teams, most notably in February, when SVOD Noggin was shuttered and its whole division let go.
Rose joined Paramount in 2018 as VP of animation production & development for Nickelodeon International, and was promoted to VP of production and development of kids and family at Paramount International in 2021. Rose began his career at UK pubcaster the BBC in 1998, where he worked in the acquisitions teams for both CBBC and CBeebies. After nine years at the Beeb, he spent almost four years in programming and development at HIT Entertainment, before relocating to Sydney to work in the children’s commissioning team at Australian pubcaster the ABC. After five years there, he returned to the UK where he worked for almost two years at prodco Beano Studios.
Bailey joined joined Paramount in 2021, leaving
Bailey was hired as animation production and development manager for Nickelodeon in 2021, before becoming director of animation production and development for kids and family at Paramount International the following year. Before joining Nickelodeon, Bailey served as a producer and in a head of animation role at Cloth Cat Animation.
Elson has been manager of international production and development for kids and family at Paramount International since 2022, having joined Nickelodeon in 2019 as a production and development coordinator. Prior to Nickelodeon and Paramount, Elson was a production coordinator at Industrial Light & Magic.
In his LinkedIn post, Rose thanked his team for “everything we’ve achieved,” including animated series Sharkdog and The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj and live-action show Rock Island Mysteries.
“Wishing my colleagues who are continuing on this transformative journey all the very best. But from myself and those of us saying our farewells, it’s not goodbye. It’s ‘see you after the break,’” he said.
Below is Chris Rose's LinkedIn post in full:
It’s been my absolute privilege to lead the fantastic international development and production team for Nickelodeon.We’ve worked tirelessly on a distinctive, best in class development slate of live action comedy, franchise reboots, pre school and kids animated series. We’ve produced and exec produced numerous originals and co productions with partners all over the world from Australia to India, China to Brazil and of course Europe and the UK.But the best part of it was I got to work with and lead some of the most talented executives, producers, writers and creatives in the business.From Sharkdog to Sammy & Raj; Rock Island Mysteries to a soon to be announced new project - I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked with so many clever, talented and kind people and teams, but none more so my immediate class of 2024 team of Jordan, Adam, Francesca and Lynsey. Thank you. It wasn’t easy. But we made it happen. Most of all, we had a laugh, didn’t we!To work at Nickelodeon was a dream. I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved, and never got tired of saying Heart Fart and Smart!.Thanks to Nina and Jules for taking a punt on me. To Mick, Fremantle Australia and Threewise Entertainment for the Rock Island memories. And to some others about something else - keep at it. It’s gonna be great! (Sssh. Spoilers!)To the external producers, creatives, execs and all the teams we’ve worked with, from marketing to programming; digital to content partnerships. The fabulous reception team. Incredible Milkshake gang. Our wonderful BALA team. Thank you to everyone in the business who has helped us achieve so much.Wishing my colleagues who are continuing on the transformative journey all the very best. But from myself and those of us saying our farewells, it’s not goodbye. It’s “see you after the break”. x
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