20th Century Fox TV Names Jennifer Gwartz EVP Of Comedy & Drama Development
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TV and film development executive and producer Jennifer Gwartz has been appointed EVP of Development, Comedy and Drama of 20th Century Fox Television, part of Disney Television Studios.
Gwartz, who has been partnered with Jon Harmon Feldman in ABC Studios-based Random Hill Productions, will oversee the scripted development of the label’s live-action comedies and dramas as well as the teams of executives in the studio’s comedy and drama developments. Starting on Nov. 4, she will report to 20th TV’s President of Creative Affairs Carolyn Cassidy. Gwartz succeeds Terence Carter who departed last month to head TV for Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios.
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“Jen is a smart, thoughtful leader and a champion of ideas and talent, which makes her the perfect person to lead our development,” said Cassidy. “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 comes from within Disney TV Studios. In 2017, she partnered with Feldman to form Random Hill Prods. with an overall deal at 20th TV sibling ABC Studios where the duo have been based. Under the pact, she and Feldman sold a number of projects and served as executive producers on the ABC pilot Triangle. Prior to that, Gwartz spent six years as Head of Television and COO for Warner Bros. TV’s Dan Lin Pictures Television, executive producing six pilots for cable and broadcast, as well as the series Forever (ABC), Frequency (CW) and Lethal Weapon, which ran on Fox for three seasons.
Gwartz’s resume includes stints as a drama development executive at ABC Entertainment and Columbia TriStar Television, and as President of Joel Silver’s television division at Warner Bros., where she developed and produced the pilots for Veronica Mars, Prodigy and The Studio. Her association with Veronica Mars creator/executive producer Rob Thomas also included her serving as executive producer/co-executive producer on the series Veronica Mars, Cupid and Party Down as well as the pilot for 90210.
On the feature side, Gwartz served as an executive at Silver Pictures, working on such projects as Demolition Man, Conspiracy Theory and The Hudsucker Proxy. From there she worked at Cary Woods’ Miramax-based production company where she developed Scream, which went on to gross $100 million domestic, as well as Kids, Copland, Swingers and Beautiful Girls. Additional film credits include Lethal Weapon 4, House on Haunted Hill and The Matrix.
“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,” Gwartz said.
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