MUMBAI: DreamWorks Animation has tapped Marjorie Cohn, a 26-year veteran of Nickelodeon, as its first-ever head of television.

Cohn and her team will be responsible for the development and production of 1,200 new original episodes over the next five years. The production slate will feature series based on current DreamWorks' franchises, future films and heritage properties from Classic Media. Cohn most recently held the role of president of content development at Nickelodeon.

Joining Cohn is Mark Taylor as head of TV production. Taylor was most recently at the helm of Nickelodeon Animation Studio. He also previously served as senior VP and general manager at Nick and was responsible for all the network's in-house animated productions.

Rounding out the new leadership team is Peter Gal as head of TV development. He currently oversees creative on DreamWorks' Dragons: Riders of Berk and Turbo F.A.S.T. He spent three years as the VP of production at Twentieth Century Fox and before that spent five years at Nickelodeon developing animated programming, including the DreamWorks' inspired Penguins of Madagascar.

"Having Margie join us to oversee our television efforts is an incredible coup for DreamWorks Animation. She is uniquely suited with the experience, skill and creativity to immediately dive in and oversee our aggressive expansion into this space," said DreamWorks Animation's chief operating officer Ann Daly. "Margie has tremendous instincts when it comes to kids' programming, and we can't wait to unleash her creative force on DreamWorks' vast IP to bring exciting new content to families across the world."