Vanessa Coffey

{{Infobox person

| name = Vanessa Coffey

| birth_place =

| occupation = Film producer

| years_active = 1979–present

| known_for = {{flatlist|

}}

| awards = 2 Daytime Emmy Awards * 1 CableACE Award

}}

Vanessa Coffey is an American television producer and co-founder of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio best known for her work on Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Doug, and Rocko's Modern Life. Coffey has won two Daytime Emmy Awards and a CableACE Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1419817/awards|title=Vanessa Coffey|publisher=IMDb|access-date=14 June 2018}}

Career

=Marvel Animation=

Coffey's film career began at Marvel Animation working on television shows including Transformers, G.I. Joe, Muppet Babies and Defenders of the Earth. Coffey later moved to Murakami-Wolf-Swenson where she worked on the development of the television show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/18/vanessa-coffey-nickelodeon_n_6257232.html|title=One Woman Is Responsible For Starting Nickelodeon's Golden Age of Cartoons|last=Duca|first=Lauren|date=December 18, 2014|work=HuffPost|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=September 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907025329/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/18/vanessa-coffey-nickelodeon_n_6257232.html|url-status=live}}

=Nickelodeon and Nicktoons=

Coffey says that after leaving Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, she did not want to do animation anymore{{Cite news|url=https://decider.com/2016/06/14/the-oral-history-of-nicktoons-part-i-how-the-storied-animation-block-came-to-be/|title=The Oral History of 'Nicktoons', Part I: How The Storied Animation Block Came To Be|date=June 14, 2016|work=Decider|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=May 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516175235/https://decider.com/2016/06/14/the-oral-history-of-nicktoons-part-i-how-the-storied-animation-block-came-to-be/|url-status=live}} because everything was either modeled after pre-existing comic strips or a vessel for selling related products. Coffey decided that she wanted to bring back original animation and called Debbie Beece at Nickelodeon. Coffey was told that Nickelodeon could not afford animation at the time, but she could produce a special for them. She produced Nick's Thanksgiving Fest in 1988 as an independent contractor. It was only the second time that the studio had done animation. After the success of the special, Nickelodeon contracted with Coffey to develop Nicktoons{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/spotlight/nickelodeon-animation-studio-ren-stimpy-jon-kricfalusi-vanessa-coffey-1201766455/|title=Nickelodeon Animation Studio: Pop-Culture Powerhouse Got an Unlikely Start|last=Owen|first=Rob|date=May 5, 2016|work=Variety|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403185238/https://variety.com/2016/tv/spotlight/nickelodeon-animation-studio-ren-stimpy-jon-kricfalusi-vanessa-coffey-1201766455/|url-status=live}} with original, creator-driven ideas.

Coffey developed three ideas to fill the 90-minute time slot allocated to Nicktoons – Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show and Doug. All three shows were successful and are credited with beginning Nickelodeon's "golden age of cartoons". Coffey calls the variety of the three shows "a balanced meal" for kids. Between the pilots and series' production, Coffey was hired as Nickelodeon's Vice President of Animation.

Of being able to create original programming for Nicktoons, Coffey says, "I was in the right place at the right time."{{Cite news|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/events/cal-state-fullerton-exhibit-celebrates-25-years-of-nicktoons/|title=Cal State Fullerton Exhibit Celebrates 25 Years of NickToons|date=April 18, 2016|work=Animation Magazine|access-date=13 June 2018}} Arlene Klasky, co-creator of Rugrats, and Jim Jinkins, creator of Doug, credit Coffey for enabling them to get their shows off the ground and into the homes of millions around the world.