Kidscreen can confirm that David Wiebe (pictured) has joined Netflix as a manager of kids & family animated series, joining a team that has also recently welcomed former Thunderbird exec Matt Berkowitz (director of animation for preschool + kids) and Bad Robot alum Hannah Minghella (head of feature animation and live-action family film).
It’s not surprising that the streamer is powering up its animation ranks, given that the genre has generated consistently strong viewership numbers. (Just this week, the company also began testing a playlist model in select markets, focused on the reliable draw of preschool toons.)
Wiebe’s impressive resumé spans more than two decades in the kids content industry. Since 2022, he has been busy developing, pitching and producing family-friendly projects for clients including Netflix, Universal, Mattel, Guru, 9 Story, Wind Sun Sky, Superprod and Spin Master Entertainment through his own company, Big House Stories.
But Wiebe started out as a creative executive at Nickelodeon in the early ’00s, working on shows like SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents. He then moved into a director of development position at Nelvana (2002 to 2003) and joined the WB Television Network after that (2003 to 2007). More recently, Wiebe worked for four years as a senior director of entertainment at Mattel (where he created Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse) and spent nearly eight years at DreamWorks Animation (The Boss Baby: Back in Business) as SVP of current series/franchise.