Mattel Names Michelle Mendelovitz Head of Mattel Television Studios

Mattel has announced Michelle Mendelovitz has been named head, Mattel Television Studios. Mendelovitz will oversee the development, production and distribution of Mattel’s slate of episodic content on broadcast and streaming globally. Mendelovitz will report to Josh Silverman, chief franchise officer, Mattel. 

“Michelle is a powerful creative leader with a wealth of experience working with top studios and creators to make innovative, quality content across genres and platforms,” says Ynon Kreiz, chairman, chief executive officer, Mattel. “We are excited for her to join at a time of such momentum for the company, and for the important role she will play in developing stories that resonate in culture and growing Mattel’s global fan base.” 

“The opportunity to connect worldwide audiences with Mattel’s iconic brands, franchises and characters through high-quality storytelling is greater than ever before,” says Silverman. “I look forward to the impact Michelle and Mattel Television Studios will have on expanding the content slate to the delight of our fans around the globe.” 

Mendelovitz brings to Mattel significant expertise in content development and production gained from senior roles at Disney 20th Television Studios, Apple TV+, Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Network. She most recently served as executive producer, Hiddenlight Productions, working with Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton to develop a suite of scripted projects for the initial slate for their production company. 

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At Disney 20th Television Studios as senior vice president, head, drama development, Mendelovitz redefined the company’s content slate and managed more than 250 projects in various stages of development and production across all Disney platforms and other streamers, including Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Peacock. She was previously a senior creative executive for scripted and unscripted programming at Apple, where she played a leading role in launching Apple TV+ and oversaw various straight-to-series scripted shows and docuseries, such as the Emmy-nominated series, “Severance,” as well as “For All Mankind” and the Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry mental health documentary series, “The Me You Can't See.” 

For Sony Pictures Television, as vice president, scripted programming (drama and comedy), Mendelovitz oversaw all creative and production needs on numerous series for broadcast networks and streaming platforms, including “Bloodline” for Netflix and the hit series, “The Good Doctor,” for ABC. She started her career at CBS Television in comedy development. 

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“Mattel is a globally revered brand that I’ve always admired for its ability to empower and relate to their audience generation after generation,” says Mendelovitz. “Taking that bold spirit to speak to themes that impact people’s worlds, while simultaneously entertaining audiences of all ages, is what we are focused on as we grow Mattel Television Studios into an inspiring storytelling home for best-in-class creators. I’m so thrilled and honored to join the Mattel team as we take our brands and franchises to a whole new level.” 

Mattel Television Studios is the television production and distribution division of Mattel, providing global audiences with innovative and engaging content based on the company’s portfolio of franchises.