MTV NAMES MINA LEFEVRE HEAD OF SCRIPTED PROGRAMMING
Former ABC Family Exec Behind Hits "Pretty Little Liars" and "Melissa & Joey" Joins MTV
Los Angeles, CA - January 31, 2013 - MTV (a division of Viacom, Inc. NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA) today announced that Mina Lefevre, former Vice President of Development and Programming at ABC Family, is joining MTV as Senior Vice President and Head of Scripted Programming. Lefevre, who has been with ABC Family since its inception and was behind the network's highest-rated hits, including "Pretty Little Liars," "Melissa & Joey," "Jane by Design," and "Lying Game," will now oversee all of MTV's scripted development and programming and will be based in Los Angeles. She begins her new role in February and reports to Susanne Daniels, President of Programming for MTV.
In making the announcement, Daniels said, "Mina was instrumental in establishing ABC Family as a pop culture player, and she's demonstrated a proven ability to make hits that connect with young adults." She added, "In addition to our diverse roster of reality programming, MTV's audience is increasingly hungry for more fun and smart scripted shows, and Mina is the perfect creative voice to join the stellar MTV team - that has already ushered in hits 'Awkward' and 'Teen Wolf' - to build upon the network's diverse lineup."
Having originally joined ABC Family's predecessor, Fox Family Network, Lefevre stayed on after the channel was sold to ABC. She was a key part of the core team tasked with developing shows to help define the unknown and newly established ABC Family network. After some early success with reality, Lefevre came into her own with a string of breakthrough scripted hits - chief among them "Pretty Little Liars," ABC Family's #1 original series and the #1 scripted cable series for female teens. Another recent hit "Melissa & Joey," starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, ranks as ABC Family's most watched original comedy. In addition to primetime scripted series, Lefevre also oversaw ABC Family's original movie slate, with titles including "Teen Spirit," "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" and "12 Dates of Christmas" to her name. Prior to Fox Family Network, she spent several years at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. She began her entertainment career at Flicker Fusion Films, as a producer on several independent features and shorts.
Commenting on her new post, Lefevre said, "It's an exciting time for scripted series at MTV. I'm looking forward to working with Susanne and the entire team to make more great shows and break new creative ground."
MTV is the number one, full day, ad supported (non-sports) entertainment cable network for the prized P12-34 audience, with more top ten cable series for the year (2012) than any other network (3 of the top 10). In 2013, 4 of MTV's 5 original series rank #1 in their timeslot across all TV for 12-34 year olds. MTV is also the top global youth brand according to rankings from Interbrand and Forbes.
About MTV:
MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
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