Animal Planet & Kids Names Development Executive
-- Charlie Foley Returns to Ride Herd on Network Content --
September 18, 2007
(Silver Spring, MD) Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager for Animal Planet & Discovery Kids Media, announced today that television veteran Charlie Foley is returning to the network as vice president of development. Based in New York, Foley is in charge of developing a robust content pipeline and reports directly to Kaplan.
“Charlie is a talented, creative executive who is extremely passionate about breaking new ground with the natural history genre and pushing the networks into uncharted areas,” Kaplan said. “He has hit the ground running, already putting together a slate that will resonate, entertain and surprise our audience.”
As vice president of development, Foley leads the networks’ program development initiatives, including the genres of natural history, pets, animation and general entertainment. He spearheads internal idea development and will work with independent producers and production companies to bring new projects to air.
Earlier with Animal Planet Foley created, wrote and was an executive producer on the most-watched special in Animal Planet history – the two-hour DRAGONS: A FANTASY MADE REAL in 2005. He has written, developed or executive-produced several signature series and specials, including LAND OF LOST MONSTERS, GIANT MONSTERS, ANIMAL PRECINCT, THE JEFF CORWIN EXPERIENCE and VENOM E.R. Foley’s work has been honored with Primetime Emmy nominations and numerous other industry accolades.
Prior to Animal Planet, Foley held development and production positions with Discovery Networks. He has worked for National Geographic, as well as with independent production companies, including his most recent position with Los Angeles-based Evergreen Films.
About Animal Planet Media
Animal Planet Media, a multimedia business unit of Discovery Communications, connects humans and animals with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for entertainment, information and enrichment. Animal Planet Media consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in over 91 million homes in the U.S.; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; PetsIncredible, a major producer and distributor of pet-training videos that includes the Web service www.PetVideo.com; and other media platforms, including a robust video-on-demand service, mobile content, and merchandising extensions.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications is the number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Through TV and digital media, Discovery's 100-plus worldwide networks include Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Science Channel, Discovery Health and Discovery HD Theater. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Co. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman. For more information please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.