Cartoon Network SVP of Programming and Scheduling, Jennifer Davidson, unexpectedly died early Saturday morning, Dec. 1, 2007. The 38-year-old wife and mother died of a sudden illness. She is survived by her husband, John Davidson, and three young children, Mitchell (7), Oliver (5) and Harper (2).
"We have lost a shining star, not only at Cartoon Network, but within our industry," said Stuart Snyder, EVP/COO for Turner Broadcasting System Inc.'s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media group. "Our hearts and prayers go out to John, Mitchell, Oliver, Harper and Jen's family and friends."
Viewing services will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 6:00-9:00 pm at The Sandy Springs Funeral Home in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 1:00 pm at Buckhead Church in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to one of three charitable organizations the Davidson's have actively supported -- FRAXA, the Fragile X Research Foundation (www.fraxa.org); the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia-lymphoma.org); and BrightPoint For Children (www.brightpointforchildren.org).
Davidson was an early member of the Cartoon Network team when the network was launched in 1992 and was most recently promoted to SVP in September 2007, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day scheduling and strategic positioning of all on-air content for Cartoon Network and Boomerang, as well as on-air promotion for Adult Swim. Previously, she served as VP of marketing, ad trade, consumer products trade and strategic operations for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Among her accomplishments, Davidson was part of the team that launched Adult Swim in Sept. 2001 as a separate entertainment service targeted for young adults. She also won several industry and marketing awards including a 2000 BDA Gold Award for total package design (Boomerang). This year, Davidson was selected as a 2007-08 Betsy Magness Leadership Fellow.
Over the years at Cartoon Network, Davidson served in several other capacities including VP/exec producer for on-air promotion and operations. In this role, Davidson exec produced all on-air promotions, stunts and specials, and she developed and implemented new on-air promotion planning processes, including a new production software system. Prior to this, Davidson served as Cartoon Network's VP, on-air promotion, production and operations (1998-2001), partnering with the network creative director to produce packaging, promotion, interstitials and multiple off-channel campaigns. In this capacity, she exec produced the launch of the all-classic cartoon channel, Boomerang. Davidson started her career at the network as production/operations assistant and operations coordinator/manger and was later director of on-air promotion operations/production.
Davidson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1969 to John and Bobbie Stitt. She graduated in 1991 from Virginia Tech with a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast communications. Along with her husband John and three children, Davidson is survived by her parents, two sisters, a brother, and a host of extended family.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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