ABC News Studios announces leadership changes

Talking Biz News was given access to an internal memo sent by ABC News Studios head Mike Kelley. It reads as follows:

Hi Team,

I have a few exciting organizational announcements that position ABC News Studios for continued success.

I’m thrilled to announce that Claire Weinraub has officially started as the Executive Producer of ABC News Studios. In this role she will report to David Sloan and work closely with me to help shape the creative output of the Studios group and manage much of the production team responsible for it. Claire will be involved in our development and decision making process regarding which projects to greenlight, she will work with creative executives to oversee projects, manage our capable team of Senior Producers, and partner closely with Meegan Neeb on the Production Management Team to ensure our productions are set up and delivered with excellence. Claire has been with ABC News for over 20 years and for much of that time, she produced some of Diane Sawyer’s most memorable, award-winning specials. She is a person who exemplifies the culture we want to create at ABC News Studios and will be a great addition to our leadership team.

In addition I’m pleased to announce an expanded role for Senior Producer Eamon McNiff. In an effort to ensure our staff have the management, mentorship and professional development they need, Eamon will take on leading our team of Field Producers, Associate Producers and Production Assistants. He will ensure we offer consistent training and professional development and help make sure we have the best staffing mix for each project. In his new role managing this staff, he will report into Claire while continuing to report to Jen Joseph for his responsibilities with George Stephanopoulos Productions.

As previously announced, Carrie Cook is Executive Producer of Development and Production. In this role Carrie oversees the development process for new ideas across the Studios group. She reports into David Sloan and will work closely with Claire.

Finally I’m pleased to welcome Naomi Tesfai to ABC as Senior Manager, ABC News Studios. In this role she will help me manage many of the day to day aspects of the Studios business.

We’ve got a lot of new team members and at our next All Staff meeting I’d like to spend some time introducing everyone in person. I will also talk more about our organizational chart to make sure each person understands their reporting structure.

This is an exciting time for Studios as more and more of our projects launch across Disney platforms and find success with the audience. This structure will help us continue to deliver excellence in the months and years ahead.

Thank you,

Mike