Fred Rogers Productions promoted Ellen Doherty to chief creative officer, a newly created position announced in December.
Doherty, who had been executive-in-charge of production and EP, continues to oversee the PBS Kids series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Odd Squad and Peg + Cat. She reports to President and CEO Paul Siefken.
“Ellen is a creative dynamo who has done a fantastic job expanding our ‘Neighborhood’ with extraordinary content,” Siefken said in a news release. “From her oversight of our award-winning portfolio to exceptional new projects in development, Ellen has been instrumental at every stage of the creative process, and we’ll continue to benefit from her know-how and talent.”
Doherty also led development and production of Through the Woods, a short-form, preschool series created for the mobile platform and early-learning subscription service Curious World. The series of 10 three-minute episodes show a young boy and his dog as they explore nature. Doherty created the series in 2017 and served as head writer and EP.
She joined the Fred Rogers Productions in 2016. During her tenure as executive-in-charge of productions, Doherty was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Mister Rogers: It’s You I Like, the 50th anniversary tribute to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Earlier in her career, Doherty was an EP and story editor for WNET in New York, where she primarily worked on the PBS Kids series Cyberchase. She also worked as a segment or associate producer for several productions, including Reading Rainbow in 1998.
“Being part of the Fred Rogers Productions team and its commitment to develop and deliver top quality educational media for kids and families is a true joy,” Doherty said. “I’m excited about the milestones we’ve achieved with our current series and look forward to introducing audiences to our new projects, which will provide them with even more outstanding content to engage with and learn from together.”
Fred Rogers Productions is currently producing a fifth season of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood for debut on PBS Kids this summer.