Marc Velez Joins UCP As Head Of Development, Naketha Mattocks Joins Universal TV As SVP Drama

UCP and Universal Television, divisions of Universal Studio Group, have each brought in an SVP-level development executive. Lee Daniels Entertainment President Marc Velez has been named SVP, Head of Development, for UCP, reporting to Jennifer Gwartz, EVP of UCP. Former Netflix executive Naketha Mattocks joins Universal Television as SVP Drama Development reporting to Vivian Cannon, EVP Drama Development.

Velez succeeds Garrett Kemble, who left UCP this past summer to join Anonymous Content’s AC Studios.

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“Marc is a rare executive who is entrepreneurial, creative and a partner to our talent and buyers,” said Beatrice Springborn, President of UCP and Universal International Studios. “We are fortunate to have him lead our creative team, who represent the best of the best as we continue to evolve and grow our slate.”

During his almost six years as president of Lee Daniels Entertainment, Velez developed and executive produced ABC’s The Wonder Years, Fox’s Our Kind of People, BET’s The Ms. Pat Show and the Sammy Davis Jr. limited series at Hulu. In addition, he headed up the Lee Daniels Inclusion Fund, which supports up-and-coming diverse voices. Previously, Velez was SVP at Imagine Television, where he developed Lee Daniels’ Empire for Fox and worked on Netflix’s Arrested Development.

Mattocks most recently was at Netflix, where she launched the Family Film division in 2018. She left in the May wave of layoffs that heavily impacted the unit.

“Naketha has impeccable taste, stellar instincts and a strong background in character-driven storytelling,” said Cannon. “We are thrilled to welcome her to the UTV family.”

During Mattocks’ Netflix tenure, the Family Films division produced 18 movies, including Nzingha Stewart’s feature directorial debut Tall Girl; Sofia Carson starrer Feel the Beat; Addison Rae’s feature debut He’s All That; and the 2020 Tribeca winner for Best Narrative Feature, Alice Wu’s The Half Of It; as well as the Jon Chu-produced limited series Thai Cave Rescue, recently a top 10 show on the streamer. Before Netflix, Mattocks was VP Original Movies at Disney Channels Worldwide, where she supervised the Disney Channel Original Movie department and the hit Descendants franchise directed by Kenny Ortega. Previously, she was head of development for Gary Ross’ Universal-based Larger Than Life Productions and an executive at Paramount Pictures.

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