Brett Weitz Joins TNT as Vice President of Series Development

Brett Weitz has joined TNT as vice president of series development, according to an announcement today by Lillah McCarthy, vice president of series programming for TNT and TBS. In this role, Weitz will be responsible for developing scripted drama series for TNT, which recently announced that it will significantly increase its slate of original programming over the next few years. Weitz is based in Los Angeles and reports to McCarthy.

"I had the pleasure of working with Brett on David Manson's series Saved a few years ago and was greatly impressed by his talent and energy," said McCarthy. "He is an extremely smart executive and a terrific individual. We are thrilled to have him join our team."

Weitz comes to TNT from 20th Century Fox Television, where he served as vice president of creative affairs for the fox21 Studios division. In its first three years of operation, fox21 developed such series as the TNT drama Saved, the reality hit Beauty and the Geek and the comedy FreeRide. He also took on the challenge of finding alternative forms of development, searching for undiscovered talent and working with young and seasoned feature writers for cross-over opportunities for cable and broadcast television. Weitz's success at fox21 led to his being included in Hollywood Reporter's 2007 list of top entertainment executives under the age of 35.

Prior to working for fox21, Weitz was director of drama development for 20th Century Fox Television from 2002 to 2004. He joined that company after a brief tenure as director of drama development for Columbia TriStar Television.

From 1999 to 2001, Weitz worked at Artists Television Group as part of the initial team that started up the company under Michael Ovitz. He first served as director of creative affairs, then later as television literary manager, representing television writers and directors.

Turner Network Television (TNT), television's destination for drama and one of cable's top-rated networks, offers original series, including the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; Raising the Bar, starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Trust Me, with Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as Bones, Cold Case, Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER and Charmed; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards�; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.