The Energon Pub

[Seibertron]

Creative Exec Michael Vogel Promoted to VP to Oversee Development for Boys, Action, Girls and Preschool Programming; SVP Linda Steiner to Oversee Current Programming

Los Angeles, CA, March 2, 2011 – Hasbro Studios, the Los Angeles-based production and distribution division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), has split its boys/action and girls/preschool creative teams into separate series development and current programming groups to meet increased production output. The former heads of both units, which have been in place since the studio’s inception in 2009, have taken on new roles leading the revamped teams, Hasbro Studios President Stephen Davis announced today.

Davis has promoted Mike Vogel from executive director, boys and action programming, to vice president, development. Vogel will be charged with reimagining all boys, action, girls and pre-school creative efforts by the studio.

Linda Steiner, who had served as senior VP, girls and preschool programming, has taken on a new role as senior VP, current programming, managing a growing number of successful studio-produced series once they are on the air.

Additionally, Vice President of Production Kathy Page will lead an expanded team to support the restructured departments with production and post-production services, while continuing to assist in oversight of outside production service relationships.

“With the rapid growth of Hasbro Studios and the increasing number of shows we have on The Hub, as well as airing in international markets, I am making these changes to both streamline the creative process and make our organization operate more efficiently,” Davis said. “Michael, Linda and Kathy have all done outstanding jobs in their respective roles and now, with this restructuring, we will be able to create a more cohesive organization.”

Vogel, who has shepherded Transformers Prime, G.I. Joe Renegades and other well-known Hasbro brands from inception to success on The Hub, previously served as director of animated programming at Sony Pictures Entertainment, overseeing development and current programming for television animation. Vogel had worked on numerous animated series, including the Emmy nominated Jackie Chan Adventures, Stan Lee’s The Spectacular Spiderman for Kid’s WB, the Peabody Award-winning The Boondocks, as well as Sit Down Shut Up.

Steiner joined Hasbro Studios in her previous role in 2009 from Warner Bros. Animation, where she was senior vice president of creative affairs. At Warner Bros., she was responsible for overseeing development and production of some of the most high-profile and highly rated animation programming on television, including The Batman, for which she won an Emmy Award; Legion of Super Heroes and Teen Titans. She joined Warner Bros. in 1998 as vice president, development. Previously, she held senior positions at ABC Entertainment in the network’s children’s entertainment division.

About Hasbro Studios: Hasbro Studios is the Los Angeles-based production division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS). The studio develops and produces shows based on Hasbro’s world class brands, including TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY and GI JOE; delivers new branded content; and produces programs from top third-party content creators. Many of these shows will run on The Hub, a television network for children and their families that was re-branded from Discovery Kids on October 10, 2010, as well as on multiple channels in international markets. The Hub is a joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK).

[Bumblevivisector]

Not sure this development will really mean anything to Transformers, but here's hoping the increase in volume of output will lead to some of the most obscure properties acquired by Hasbro over the last two decades getting new cartoons and movies!

Maybe even some crossovers other than G.I.Joe/TF, like a TF series where Cybertron and Gobotron go to war, and MASK is formed to hunt down TFs on Earth, like RAAT in the Marvel comics. Or better yet: a rogue Cobra scientist creates generators capable of zombifying humanity and succeeds in dropping them around half the planet before being shot down by the Joes, and declares himself Overlord of the half of Earth enveloped by the Spiral Zone! With only 5 combat suits capable of withstanding the Zone-Effect, the Joes must choose an elite team of Zone Riders to take zonerized Cobra legions, and...

Of course, it'd be easier to just rerun the original 'toons as they were to test the waters first, which they really SHOULD be doing for more than just TF:G1 and G.I.Joe ARAH. I suspected there was some legal reason they could only rerun Sunbow cartoons until I saw they also have yet to rerun the '86 season of either show. I can understand them possibly wanting to air TFTM in a big event before season 3, but Cartoon Network reran Joe seasons 1 and 2 (minus the first 3 5-parters) on Saturday nights in 2003, so I'm not sure what's stopping them there unless it's a branding decision from up top. I mean, they're showing new toons for girls' properties like My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and Pound Puppies, so why not the originals once in a while? I know Pound Puppies was Hanna Barbera, meaning WB might want too much for it; does Boomerang show it? Disney's letting the Hub show quite a bit of their property, so could Time Warner be that much harder to deal with?

Their current lineup has a nice variety, but I'm sure as heck not bothering with anything unrelated to TF or Joe. Start rerunning GoBots, Spiral Zone, and even what little there was of Robotix on the other hand, and I'd DVR it all! Say, does Hasbro own Wheeled Warriors now too?