Mattel Television Taps Disney Channel Vet Adam Bonnett As Executive Producer

Adam Bonnett, former Disney Channels Worldwide EVP of Original Programming, has been appointed Executive Producer, Mattel Television.

During his 21 years at Disney Channel, Bonnett was behind the network’s signature and most successful original TV series and movies, in addition to overseeing casting and talent relations. His long list of hits include such Disney Channel series as Hannah Montana, Good Luck Charlie, The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody, The Suite Life On Deck, Sonny With A Chance, That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire and the Emmy-Award-winning series Even Stevens and Wizards of Waverly Place, as well as movies such as the Descendants franchise, Teen Beach Movie, Disney’s Zombies, Adventures in Babysitting (reboot) and Disney’s upcoming live-action movie Kim Possible. 

At Mattel Television, Bonnett will be responsible for global episodic content development and production for live action and animation based on the company’s iconic brands. He will report to Richard Dickson, Mattel’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

“Adam is an extraordinarily talented executive with a proven track record of developing high-quality TV content that captures the imagination of kids worldwide,” said Mr. Dickson. “Adding his expertise is another important step as we build out our franchise management capabilities in order to maximize the potential of our brands across a variety of channels and consumer touchpoints.”

“Mattel owns one of the world’s greatest portfolio of brands, each with unique characters, storylines and built-in emotional connections with children, creating amazing potential for storytelling,” said Bonnett. “I’m excited to work with Richard and the talented team to play in Mattel’s incredible toy box and bring its universal brands to life.”

Bonnett joined Disney Channel in 1997 and departed in October as exclusively reported by Deadline. For the past 8 years, during his tenure, the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise delivered six of the Top 7 original cable movies ever with more than 100 titles. He’s responsible for the #1 and #2 cable TV movies in total viewers of 2015, Descendants and Teen Beach 2, respectively. Descendants also ranks as the fifth highest-rated original movie ever on U.S. cable TV in total viewers, and its sequel, Descendants 2, was watched by 21M total viewers when it premiered with an unprecedented simultaneous premiere across ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime and Lifetime Movies in July 2017.

Prior to joining Disney, Bonnett was the director of Current Programming for Nickelodeon where he oversaw the annual franchise The Kids Choice Awards.