Nellie Andreeva

Following last week’s official appointment of Mark Pedowitz as president of the CW, the network’s EVP drama Thom Sherman today is being officially anointed his No. 2 creative executive with a promotion to EVP development. Sherman’s duties will be expanded to oversee the development of all programming, both scripted and unscripted, with the network’s drama and alternative development executives reporting to him. “A uniquely gifted executive, Thom possesses remarkable instincts in terms of great storytelling and character development, and he has cultivated tremendous relationships and earned the respect of the creative community,” said Pedowitz, who has had a close relationship with Sherman for a long time, going back to their days together at ABC. More recently, Pedowitz got to see Sherman in action at the CW; as a Warner Bros. TV-based producer, Pedowitz pitched him projects this past development season. Since joining The CW before its launch in 2006 as EVP drama, Sherman has overseen the development of such series as The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, 90210, Nikita and Hellcats. Prior to joining The CW, Sherman served as President of J.J. Abrams’ entertainment company, Bad Robot Prods, which was based at ABC Studios, then run by Pedowitz. There, he helped launch and oversee the first two seasons of Lost and also executive produced the first season of What About Brian and the pilot for Six Degrees. Before that, Sherman headed the ABC drama development department for five years as SVP and was responsible for the development and oversight of such series as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Alias and Once & Again.

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