Award- winning producer and network executive David Janollari, who has shepherded hit shows ranging from FRIENDS and SIX FEET UNDER to Supernatural and AWKWARD, is setting up a new Production Company in an exclusive deal with Universal Television, it was announced today by Bela Bajaria, Executive Vice President of Universal Television.
"Our goal is to make deals with the best creative producers in our business and David Janollari exemplifies this," said Bajaria. "Not only have I had the pleasure of working with him when he was a producer in the trenches, but he also has experience as an executive at three different networks which gives him added insight into the complexities and ever-changing programming needs of our industry at this moment. We're thrilled to welcome him to the Universal Television family."
Janollari was most recently Head of Programming at
MTV and prior to that was President of the WB Network. As a producer, he's responsible for more than a dozen shows across the broadcast and cable spectrum. A five-time Emmy nominee, he was executive producer of HBO's award-winning series "Six Feet Under," which won him a Golden Globe for best drama series and the prestigious Peabody Award. The show was nominated three times for the Emmy and three times for the Golden Globe as best drama series, and won the GLAAD Media Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble drama series, among many others accolades in its five-year run.
From 1996 to 2003, he worked with
NBC Entertainment Chairman
Robert Greenblatt in a prolific producing partnership that yielded "Six Feet Under" as well as two Emmy-nominated mini-series: "Elvis" starring Jonathan Rhy-Meyers (Golden Globe winner) and Gregory Nava's ground-breaking "American Family" starring
Edward James Olmos and
Esai Morales. Other series produced during this period include "The Hughleys" (ABC, UPN), "One On One" (UPN), and "EVE" (UPN), among several others.
"The opportunity to work with Bela, Jen Salke,
Bob Greenblatt and all of the creative people at Universal Television - some of whom I have known for the better part of two decades - is what I'm really looking forward to," said Janollari "I'm very excited about returning to producing again after nearly 10 years on the network side and hopefully supplying attention-getting new shows to all of the networks."
"We had a very satisfying and successful producing partnership and I know first-hand how incredible David is in the creative process," said Greenblatt. "He's one of the best producers I've ever worked with and I'm thrilled to be back in business with him at our studio. When he left
MTV it became my goal to talk him back into producing again."
At MTV, Janollari was successful in leading the network into scripted programming from 2010-12. Among the shows that premiered while he was at the cable network were the award-winning "Teen Wolf" and "Awkward," which remains one of MTV's most critically-applauded series, most recently winning the People's Choice Award for cable comedy series. And while at the WB, he launched several hits including "Supernatural" which continues to be the longest-running show on the
CW Network today.
Janollari began his career at the
FOX Broadcasting Company followed by a very successful stint as an executive at Warner Bros. TV. While there, he was instrumental in the development and production of the blockbuster "Friends," as well as hits that launched the careers of
Drew Carey ("The
Drew Carey Show),"
Queen Latifah ("Living Single,")
Jamie Foxx ("The
Jamie Foxx Show,") among many others.
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