Leigh Anne Brodsky, a veteran Nickelodeon licensing executive who helped lead the development and growth of such iconic characters as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues, has died.
Brodsky died Friday, Oct. 3 in New York City of complications from dementia, her family revealed. She was 67.
Brodsky grew up in Glen View, IL and graduated from Holy Cross in 1978 with job offers from the Wall Street Journal and United Media, a division of Scripps Howard. She joined United Media in 1986 as VP Licensing and Merchandising, a $13,000 a year position which launched a decades-long career as a licensing exec, leading to her longtime role as President of Consumer Products for Nickelodeon.
She became the 36th inductee in the Licensing Industry Hall of Fame in 2011. Under her leadership, Nickelodeon earned more than 35 industry awards including top licensing and Parent’s Choice honors in the toy, video, interactive gaming and apparel categories, according to Licensing International.
During her 12-stint with Viacom, she conceived and led the company’s purchase of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nickelodeon’s first acquired property, and set worldwide entertainment, marketing and merchandising strategy for Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central’s portfolio of brands including Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, South Park and Beavis and Butthead.
In 1992, she joined Lorne Michaels Broadway Video where she developed consumer products and retail programs for properties such as Saturday Night Live, Wayne’s World, The Lone Ranger, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Lassie.
In 2003, she was named Entertainment Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age.
From 2013 to 2016, Brodsky served as Managing Director Peanuts Worldwide and Iconix Entertainment where she spearheaded brand repositioning, strategy and growth of the Peanuts brand. From there she moved to Discovery for a three-year stint beginning in 2016 as EVP Global Enterprises, where she led several $100 million businesses. She most recently launched her own company, LAB Licensing and Branding in 2019.
Brodsky is survived by her husband, Greg, daughter, Allie, and son, Daniel. Donations in her name can be made to the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation, where she was a longtime board member, and DementiaSociety.org.
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