Kickstart Entertainment recruits former Cartoon Network Studios exec Nicole Rivera

Nicole Rivera

Former Cartoon Network exec Nicole Rivera has joined Hot Wheels Monster Trucks producer Kickstart Entertainment as VP of development.

Based in LA, she will head up the kids & family development slate for the firm, which is also behind animated titles including YouTube’s American Girl and Angry Birds: Summer Madness for Netflix, as well as live action titles such as Prime Video superhero series The Boys.

Reporting to reporting to Kickstart president Heather Puttock and CEO Jason Netter, Rivera has been tasked with developing animated and live-action content, while identifying potential international co-production partnerships.

TBI exclusively revealed Rivera’s exit from Cartoon Network Studios in January, following a five-year stint at the Warner Bros. Discovery firm, latterly as VP of original series development.

Rivera, who worked on titles including Battu and HBO Max series Adventure Time: Fionna And Cake, first joined the studio in 2017 as director of original series development, before being promoted to her latest role in 2019.

This followed an earlier eight-year stint on the Cartoon Network channel, first as co-ordinator of content acquisitions & co-productions, joining in 2008, before being promoted to manager of comedy animation, current series, in 2012.

Netter said that Rivera’s “keen eye for thoughtful storytelling fits wonderfully with our mission to produce high-quality and engaging television shows for worldwide audiences.”