David Farnor | On 06, Dec 2018

Netflix has entered into a multi-year overall deal with Chris Nee, the Peabody, Emmy, and Humanitas Prize-winning children’s television writer and producer.

Nee is the creator and executive producer of the multiple award-winning animated series Doc McStuffins (pictured), which was the first preschool show to feature an animated African American female as the lead character, as well as a family led by LGBTQ parents. Nee also developed and executive produced the Emmy-nominated series Vampirina and began her career as an associate producer at Sesame Street International, where she spent time in countries like Mexico, Finland, Israel and Jordan working on their local productions for the award-winning show. She has spent over 20 years championing stories with diverse points of view that have paved the way for underrepresented voices to be heard.

Under the deal, Nee will write and produce new animated and live action series for preschool and all audiences exclusively for Netflix. Additionally, Netflix will have a first-look option on feature film projects from Nee and her production company, Laughing Wild.

Netflix recently unveiled a robust slate of animated event programming – both feature films and original series – in service of kids and families around the world. Preschool programming is an important part of Netflix’s full service offering for families as the service aims to produce high quality content with age-appropriate learnings and themes that parents can feel good about sharing with their kids.

Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family for Netflix, says: “Chris is an absolute master at crafting characters that kids want to spend time with and telling stories that are representative of all different types of families and communities. She is among the very best and most prolific artists working in kids content today and we are so honored that Chris has chosen to make Netflix her creative home.”

“The beauty of Netflix is that they don’t define me by what I’ve done in the past, but by who they think I can be in the future,” says Nee. “I love that they don’t believe in boxes but rather encourage creators to dream big and swing for the fences creatively. Just as important is my ability to define the culture of my company and double-down on finding and nurturing new and diverse voices. My mission is to create work that reflects the world we live in and lend a voice to the storytellers who haven’t always had access. I can’t wait to get started.”

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