Vice President of Comedy Development for ABC (American Broadcasting Company)
Jamila Hunter was named Vice President of ABC Network Comedy in October of 2011. In this position, she is charged with overseeing the production and development of new comedy series. In her first year at the Disney owned network, Jamila supervised Tim Allen’s return to network television, “Last Man Standing,” which is now in its third season. New series under her supervision include comedian Rebel Wilson’s first US series “Super Fun Night,” “Back in the Game” starring James Caan and Maggie Lawson and “Mixology,” a groundbreaking new comedy from the creators of “The Hangover” which chronicles the dating exploits of ten people over one night for the entire season.
Prior to this position, Jamila was a key member of the creative team that launched OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and Senior Vice President of Alternative and Digital Programming at NBC Entertainment. With an emphasis on developing unscripted comedies at NBC, Jamila shepherded projects that marked the return to network television of two high-profile comedians, Jerry Seinfeld (“The Marriage Ref”) and Rosie O’Donnell (“Rosie Live!”). In addition to her primetime development duties, Jamila worked closely with NBC’s digital studio to target writers, directors and talent for their original internet series.
Before she was appointed to her position at NBC, Jamila served as Vice President of Comedy Development for 20th Century Fox Television. During her time at the prolific studio, Hunter was responsible for developing and overseeing new comedies (live-action and animation) for network television. She joined the comedy team as they launched two successful series, “My Name is Earl” at NBC and “How I Met Your Mother” at CBS. In this capacity, she worked with well-renowned producers, directors and talent ranging from Liz Meriwether (“New Girl”), Steve Levitan (“Modern Family”), Dan Harmon (“Community”), Darren Star (“Sex and the City”) and Robert Smigel (“Saturday Night Live”) to Ashton Kutcher, Shawn Levy (“Date Night”) and Marlon Wayans. In addition to maintaining relationships with established talent, Hunter was also instrumental in identifying and fostering relationships with promising new comedians, writers, directors and animators both in the United States and abroad.
Jamila served as Vice President of Development and Production at Bravo preceding her time at 20th Century Fox. She joined Bravo shortly after it was acquired by NBC and was an integral part of the creative team that re-branded the channel and launched seminal shows such as “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “Project Runway,” “Celebrity Poker Showdown” and “Blow Out.” As the head of Bravo’s west coast development team, Hunter was charged with building a Los Angeles-based staff while targeting and shepherding new programming ventures at the expanding cable channel. A sampling of the variety of projects under her watch includes Kathy Griffin’s infamous Laugh Factory show “The D-List,” the improvisational comedy series “Significant Others,” Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s “Project Greenlight,” Ewan McGregor’s reality series “Long Way Round” and “The Dan Band” music special which was directed by McG (“Charlie’s Angels”) and produced by DreamWorks Television.
Hunter served as Vice President of Alternative Programming for NBC Entertainment prior to her post at Bravo. She was the second executive to join the network’s nascent alternative department and was responsible for supervising all aspects of development, production and post-production in the rapidly growing area of alternative programming. During her tenure at the network, the alternative team launched iconic reality series like “Fear Factor” and “The Apprentice.” Projects under her watch ranged from “Last Comic Standing” and “The Rerun Show” to “TV’s Most Outrageous Gameshow Moments” and “The Cosby Show: A Look Back.” Before donning her VP stripes, Hunter served as Director of Alternative Programs at NBC, a position she held from July of 2001 to December of 2002.
From July 2000 to July 2001, Hunter was Director of Movies and Miniseries at NBC. In this role she oversaw the development and production of various longform projects. She was promoted to that position after serving as Manager of Movies and Miniseries from August 1999 to July 2000. Jamila briefly left NBC from June 1998 to August 1999 and worked at Robert Greenwald Productions acting as the Manager of Development for the independent production company. Ms. Hunter started her career at NBC as an assistant in the Movies and Miniseries department in May of 1997.
A native of San Diego, California, Hunter earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She currently resides in Studio City, California.
