CBS Television Studios Promotes SVP Alec Botnick To Lead Animation Expansion

Nellie Andreeva

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EXCLUSIVE: CBS Television Studios entered the animated series arena a couple of years ago when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert producers had an idea to spin off the animated President Donald Trump segments into a show. Our Cartoon President on Showtime became Late Show producer CBS TV Studios’ first animated series. It was followed by animated extensions of another tentpole studio franchise, with the upcoming Star Trek: Lower Decks on CBS All Access and Nickelodeon Star Trek.

As CBS TV Studios’ animation slate is expanding, with more series in development, the studio has promoted SVP Comedy Development Alec Botnick to SVP Comedy Development and Head of Animation. This is the first time CBS TV Studios has had a dedicated animation executive.

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Botnick, who originally joined the studio in 2015 as VP Comedy Development and was promoted to SVP in 2018, will continue to report to Kate Adler, EVP Comedy Development. He will be supervising the studio’s current animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Nickelodeon Star Trek and Our Cartoon President, as well as all future development.

“Alec has proven to be a huge asset not only to our department but to the company as a whole,” Adler said. “I am constantly impressed by his versatility, character, knowledge of the marketplace and the number of phone calls he can make in one day. Our hope is that with the news of his expanded responsibilities, people will stop calling him ‘Alex.’”

Since joining CBS TV Studios’ comedy department, Botnick helped supervise the development of American Vandal and Dead to Me for Netflix; No Activity for CBS All Access; Man With a Plan, The Neighborhood, The Unicorn, Carol’s Second Act and the upcoming Broke for CBS; as well as the upcoming Diary of a Female President for Disney+.

Before becoming an executive at CBS TV Studios, Botnick was an agent in the TV Literary Department at WME since 2009.

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