Julia Franz, senior vice president and head of comedy programing and development for Fox Entertainment, is exiting the broadcaster. Cheryl Dolins is joining Fox to take her place.
Franz has been at Fox for the past three years. She will remain at Fox in a consulting role. In that role, she will serve as both network and studio creative on the upcoming Fox workplace comedy “Animal Control” and the upcoming second season of “Welcome to Flatch.” She will stay on in that role until “Animal Control” wraps in spring 2023.
Dolins was previously the senior vice president of comedy development at 20th Television from 2016-2020. While there, she worked with Fox’s president of entertainment, Michael Thorn, prior to him joining Fox in 2017.
“Having worked with Cheryl on both the network and studio side throughout our careers, I’ve always been amazed by her ability to identify and shepherd an impressive array of premium comedies that have left their mark on the television landscape,” Thorn said. “I’m looking forward to once again working with her as we further build FOX Entertainment’s comedy portfolio.”
During Dolins’ time at 20th TV, she led development of shows like Hulu’s “only Murders in the Building,” “Single Parents” and “The Wonder Years” reboot for ABC, and “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” at Disney+.
Franz joined Fox from Spectrum Originals, where she was head of development. She had a hand in launching the Gabrielle Union and Jessica Albaseries “LA’s Finest” as well as the “Mad about You” reboot, the network’s first half-hour comedy. She began her career at Touchstone Television (later known as ABC Studios and now ABC Signature), where she was a creative executive, working her way up from junior programming exec to head of comedy development and then head of creative.
“Julia has been a central player for us during these important, foundational years of Fox Entertainment,” Thorn added. “The crucial groundwork she has laid will serve us well in the coming years; and having her onboard with ‘Animal Control’ and ‘Welcome to Flatch’ helps ensure our continued path to success.”
Prior to working at 20th TV, Dolins was senior vice president of television development and production for Alloy Entertainment and served as president of Grand Central Entertainment before that. She also held numerous executive roles at NBC between 1999 and 2006. She began her career in production and also served in a number of development roles at Kelsey Grammer’s Grammnet Productions.
(Pictured: Julia Franz, left; Cheryl Dolins, right)
