Animal Planet Bolsters Development Team

Animal Planet is beefing up its development team, promoting network veteran Charlie Foley to the newly created position of senior vp of development and adding unscripted veterans Kurt Tondorf and Andy Berg as vice presidents reporting to Foley.

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Foley joined Animal Planet in 2007 and has been instrumental in the development of the network’s top-rated River Monsters and Whale Wars. Foley will continue to report to Animal Planet president and general manager Marjorie Kaplan.

“Charlie’s bold thinking and creative ambition have been key to Animal Planet’s transformation,” said Kaplan in a statement. “Series he developed are some of the biggest and most dramatic successes of our rebrand and have helped re-imagine and redefine the brand for audiences and for the creative community.”

Tondorf joins Animal Planet from Optomen Productions, where he was vp of development and responsible for growing the UK-based company’s footprint in New York. Berg comes aboard from A&E/Bio where he was senior director of non-fiction and alternative programming developing and producing numerous series including Hoarders, Billy the Exterminator and Flip this House.