Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products (VNCP) has promoted David Chustz to the role of Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Creative. Chustz previously served as Senior Vice-President, Franchise Creative Strategy and Planning for Nickelodeon. Chustz will continue to report to Pam Kaufman, President, VNCP and will continue to be based in Nickelodeon’s Burbank, Calif. headquarters.
“Outstanding creative execution is one of VNCP’s key strategic pillars, and David has been an incredible leader in developing and executing our ‘Every Age, Every Aisle’ creative strategy around the world,” said Kaufman. “David has done a fantastic job uniting our creative teams globally, and through his leadership, our franchises are brought to life across multiple demos and aisles for fans worldwide.”
In this role, Chustz oversees global creative strategy and planning, design and product development for Viacom’s portfolio of licensed brands and properties. VNCP’s worldwide creative team of graphic designers, character artists, product designers, creative strategists, writers and project managers report into Chustz.
A 12-year Nickelodeon veteran, Chustz has led the consumer products creative strategy for Nickelodeon’s most iconic IP, including the launch of leading preschool property PAW Patrol, the reinvention of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in both 2012 and 2018, the development of JoJo Siwa into a top live-action licensing brand and SpongeBob SquarePants’ 20th anniversary.
Prior to his role in consumer products, Chustz served as a Senior Vice-President, Creative Strategy for Multi-Platform content. In this role, he developed strategy and original content for Nickelodeon’s non-linear platforms, including websites, VOD/SVOD channels and apps. He first joined Nickelodeon as vice-president, brand marketing and creative for TeenNick (formerly “The N”). His remit included consumer marketing, advertising creative, integrated marketing creative, project management, pro-social and music.
Parques Reunidos has announced the unfortunate news that Nickelodeon Adventure Madrid, a 6,000 square metre Nickelodeon-branded Family Entertainment Center located at the intu Xanadú shopping and leisure center in Arroyomolinos, Spain, will close its doors on Sunday 8th September 2019, after less than 12 months in operation.
The reason for the closure of Nickelodeon Adventure Madrid was not disclosed, however, it is thought that below-expected returns from the centre, which opened on Monday 17th December 2018, as well as from Nickelodeon Adventure Murcia in the Thader Shopping Center in Murcia, Spain influenced this decision, which also saw the leisure park operator cancel plans to open new entertainment centres in Príncipe Pio in Madrid, Times Square in New York, and in Lisbon, Portugal, including a new Nickelodeon Family Entertainment Center in Dolce Vita Tejo in Lisbon.
The opening of Nickelodeon Adventure Lakeside in London, UK will still go ahead as planned during autumn 2019, and Nickelodeon Adventure Murcia will continue to operate as normal. Each park falls within the agreement reached between Parques Reunidos and Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) in March 2016 to theme different areas in the Group’s theme parks after Nickelodeon’s shows and characters.
Nickelodeon Adventure Madrid includes different spaces themed after some of Nickelodeon's most beloved characters, thus offering a completely immersive experience. Among all these interactive games, visitors are able to take part in jellyfish races, play an organ made of corals and obtain their sailing license at SpongeBob's Boating School Blast! in the SpongeBob SquarePants zone, and slide down the famous Lookout Tower in the PAW Patrol area. Other fun areas in the Nickelodeon Adventure Madrid include special Dora the Explorer and The Fairly OddParents zones, as well as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adventure course with routes through tunnels and over climbing walls, and a Rugrats zone for toddlers. Classic Nickelodeon fans can also find a Stimpy statue inspired by the lovable cat from The Ren & Stimpy Show.
The center also includes a birthday room themed after popular Nickelodeon characters, an interactive area, a 4D cinema, and educational areas for school groups. In addition, some of the most popular Nickelodeon characters are present at Nickelodeon Adventure Madrid so that all children that visit the center can take home a picture as a souvenir to remind them of their super fun family day.
Nickelodeon Adventure visitors also have a chance to take a break and grab a snack at the bespoke Slime Café, while also wrapping up their experience at the Nickelodeon Store, where all intu Xanadú customers are able to purchase Nickelodeon official merchandise.
From the world of The Loud House comes a brand-new show, where every adventure is grande! Catch The Casagrandes, premiering in October 2019, only on Nickelodeon!
The Casagrandes will follow Lincoln Loud's best friend Ronnie Anne and her brother Bobby Santiago as they adjust to their new life in Great Lakes City, where they now live with their big, loving and chaotic multi-generational family, the Casagrandes. In the series, Ronnie Anne’s new life promises to be an adventure, especially now that she lives under one roof with her grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, and a sass-talking parrot. As if that weren’t enough excitement, she lives over the family-run Mercado, which is a gathering place for everyone in the neighborhood.
The Casagrandes will feature the voice talent of Izabella Alvarez (Westworld) as Ronnie Anne, Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) as Bobby, Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko's Modern Life, The Fairly OddParents) as Carlos, Roxana Ortega (The League) as Frida, Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids) as Carlota, Jared Kozak (Born this Way) as CJ, Alex Cazares (The Boss Baby: Back in Business) as Carl; Ruben Garfias (East Los High) as Hector, “Abuelo;” Sonia Manzano (Sesame Street) as Rosa, “Abuela;”, Sumalee Montano (Nashville) as Maria, Leah Mei Gold (Legion) as Sid Chang, Lexi Sexton as Adelaide Chang, Eugenio Derbez (Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Overboard) as Dr. Santiago, Ken Jeong (Wonder Park, Dr. Ken) as Mr. Stanley Chang, and Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains it All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch) as Mrs. Becca Chang.
The Casagrande family was first introduced in the The Loud House special, “The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos.” The family appeared throughout the third season of The Loud House and recently had a five-episode arc in season four of The Loud House, with crossover episodes also planned in season five. The Casagrande family has helped The Loud House garner acclaim, including two Imagen Awards.
The Casagrande family, along with their pets, also recently moved into the it The Loud House game app, Loud House Ultimate Treehouse.
Originally published: Monday, September 2, 2019 at 18:51 BST.
Special thanks to @RealMagitroopa for the promo!Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon, The Loud House and The Casagrandes News and Highlights!
What did you think of the brand-new The Loud House episode segments "A Grave Mistake" and "Leader of the Rack"? Vote in the polls and sound off in the comments below!
Gold Coast in lights again for Australian-first screening of Dora
The Premier has joined 400 Queensland cast and crew involved in the filming of blockbuster Dora and the Lost City of Gold for a special Australian-first screening on the Gold Coast today.
The movie is the latest release of a string of blockbusters filmed in Queensland and sees Dora The Explorer transformed from the much-loved animated series to a real-life teenager on the big screen.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Dora had led Queensland to a treasure trove of jobs and opportunities.
“Our journey to bring Dora’s adventure tale to Queensland began back in February last year when I met with Paramount Pictures during a trade mission to the United States,” the Premier said.
“I still remember saying, we did it! We knew the incredible economic boost and jobs the production would bring.
“It was a really exciting time and that excitement has only grown through the buzz of production filming and now with the movie coming out.”
The Premier said across 15 weeks of pre-production and 15 weeks of filming, Dora and the Lost City of Gold employed more than 400 Queensland cast and crew, engaged 200 small businesses and injected approximately $43 million into Queensland’s economy.
“Dora’s voyage to the hidden Inca ‘City of Gold’ would not have been possible without our own city of gold – the Gold Coast,” she said.
“In August last year, Dora was the first production to use Village Roadshow’s Sound Stage 9 following its transformation for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“The studio was one of 16 locations across the South East used in the film including Tamborine Mountain, Tallebudgera Valley, the Old Museum in Brisbane and Palm Beach Currumbin State High School which was transformed into an all-American school campus.
“I thank Screen Queensland, Paramount Pictures and the film’s cast and crew for taking our State along on this exciting adventure.”
At a recent red carpet event in the United States, the cast of Dora talked about how much they loved filming in Queensland and working with a local crew.
Eva Longoria (Elena): “Brilliant, they were so great, they had big project after big project, so they had Aquaman and us and King Kong. It was one of the most experienced crews I’ve ever seen just for the amount of work they’re continuously doing there.
Isabela Moner (Dora): “Amazing, I love Queensland and I want to go back. They were wonderful, Aussies are such good people. Specifically, I’ve never seen so many women crew members which is so cool, really, really, cool and it felt like such a great environment to be surrounded by.”
James Bobin (Director): “Goldy, I loved it, we had a really fun time. We were there for a long time, about 7 months last year and I loved it.”
Eugenio Derbez (Alejandro): The people in Queensland are the best crew I’ve ever worked with, I swear. They’re the nicest people in the universe.”
Screen Queensland’s Acting CEO Jo Dillon said the Production Attraction Strategy was driving a broad range of ongoing positive outcomes for Queenslanders.
“Major feature film productions such as Dora create jobs and opportunities that have made Queensland crews and studio facilities among the most sought after in the global screen industry,” Ms Dillon said.
“They also drive tourists to our shores by showcasing our picturesque locations and the Production Attraction Strategy has made this possible by supporting back-to-back productions in Queensland”.
Dora the Explorer is one of Nickelodeon Junior’s longest-running animated shows, translated into dozens of languages and adapted into video games, stage productions and now, a live-action feature film.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold tells the story of Dora – now a teenage explorer – who accompanies her friends on an adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind a lost Incan civilization.
It is released in cinemas Australia-wide on 19 September 2019.
Production Attraction Strategy
Since its inception in 2015–16, the Palaszczuk Government through the Production Attraction Strategy has secured 23 high-end television series, feature films and post, digital and visual effects projects to Queensland creating more than 7,500 jobs and delivering a boost to the economy in excess of $679 million.
Girl Guides attend Dora movie screening in Brisbane
A HUNDRED young girl guides attended the Dora and the Lost City of Gold Brisbane premiere.
For a lot of the youngsters, Dora is their on-screen hero and they couldn’t contain their excitement to watch the live-action adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Dora the Explorer which was filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and on location in southeast Queensland last year.
The Paramount Pictures movie stars including Isabela Moner (Dora), Eva Longoria, Michael Pena, Danny Trejo, Jeff Wahlberg and Australian Madeleine Madden.
The film follows Dora and her friends on an adventure through the jungle in an attempt to save her parents.
Girl Guides Queensland’s State Commissioner, Velia Nicholls said today’s green carpet event at Westfield Garden City’s Event Cinemas was a great success.
“What a fantastic opportunity for these young girl guides to be a part of the premiere of Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” she said.
“The excitement has been at fever pitch for weeks. The movie and guiding align very closely, with a number of our activities being outdoor orientated and adventure-based.
“There are 100 young Dora’s at this event, just waiting for the next opportunity to emulate their own screen heroine.”
Girl Guides Queensland CEO Kim Harrington said today was another great day to be a member of Girl Guides Queensland.
“Thank you to Paramount Pictures and SUPERDREAM for allowing our aspiring adventurers to be some of the first people to experience the movie in Australia,” she said.
“I am certain our leaders will be inundated with requests for the associated Dora and the Lost City of Gold activity sheets and program activities just like we saw on screen today.”
