JANA STEELE HELMAN HAS JOINED FREEFORM AS VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMING AND DEVELOPMENT

Jana Steele Helman has joined Freeform as vice president of Programming and Development where she will direct the development of scripted drama and comedy series. She will help identify and grow the unique, compelling and brand-appropriate ideas for scripted content. Helman will report to Simran S. Sethi, senior vice president, Original Programming and Development.

"Jana is a fantastic executive with a great eye for material and talent. She truly loves our audience, plus she's a delight to hang out with. This is going to be great," said Sethi.

Prior to joining Freeform in June of 2016, Helman was the director of Comedy Development at Warner Bros. Television where she began as an assistant and was responsible for selling half-hour series to broadcast, premium and streaming outlets. During that time, she worked on the development and production of comedies including "Two Broke Girls," "Undateable," "Selfie" and the recently-ordered "Powerless," "Trial and Error" and Netflix's upcoming adaptation of "Green Eggs and Ham." In recent years, she worked closely with Warner Bros. producers including Bill Lawrence, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jerry Bruckheimer, as well as writers including Kari Lizer, Michelle Nader, Bill Wrubel, Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer. Before her time at WBTV, Jana started her career as an assistant in the TV and Motion Picture Literary Departments at Endeavor.

Helman attended Boston University and lives in Los Angeles.

About Freeform

Part of the Disney|ABC Television Group, Freeform is distributed in 94 million homes. The network connects to audiences and goes beyond entertainment with bold original programming and immersive social engagement. The network delivers a unique mix of quality original and acquired series, plus fan favorite movies and the holiday events "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas." The Freeform app is a service that allows viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on-demand access via a wide array of devices.