UNIVERSAL TELEVISION NAMES ANDREW WEIL VICE PRESIDENT, COMEDY DEVELOPMENT

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - November 2, 2011 - Universal Television has named Andy Weil as Vice President, Comedy Development, it was announced today by Bela Bajaria, Executive Vice President, Universal Television.

The addition of Weil rounds out the newly formed team of development executives for Universal Television (formerly Universal Media Studios). He'll report to Tracey Pakosta, who was named in September as Senior Vice President, Comedy Development, Universal Television. Russell Rothberg and Erin Underhill comprise the studio's Drama Development team.

Bajaria said, "Andy has great creative instincts, strong relationships, and a good track record in selling comedies. He'll be a wonderful addition to our already strong team at Universal TV."

Most recently, Weil had served as Head of Scripted Television at BermanBraun. While there, he guided "Alphas" for Syfy through a four-year development and supervised the NBC drama "The Cape." He also was overseeing the Lifetime pilot "Modern Love." Weil began his career at Paramount while attending USC as a cinema student.

Universal Television produces or co-produces series for primetime, late-night, longform, reality and digital media projects for a variety of broadcast networks as well as online outlets. Its current roster features Emmy-winning comedies "The Office," "30 Rock," and critical favorite "Parks and Recreation," as well as dramas "House" (one of television's top-rated series globally) and "Parenthood," among others. Additionally, the studio, along with Wolf Films, produces "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," which is part of the most successful drama series brands in television history. Many of these series have been honored with prestigious Emmy, Golden Globe, Peabody, SAG, AFI and Humanitas Awards.

New scripted series produced by Universal Television for the 2011-2012 season include the dramas "Prime Suspect," "Smash," "Grimm" and comedies "Whitney," "Up All Night," "Bent" and "Best Friends Forever" (working title).