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EXCLUSIVE: The sudden departure this week of Michelle Mendelovitz from running Mattel Television Studios looks to indicate the fun and games are over at the toy maker.
With legal action hanging overhead like a sword of Damocles, former 20th Television SVP Mendelovitz has engaged the services of bare knuckles attorney Bryan Freedman to negotiate her exit from Mattel, I’ve learned. A situation that could be heading towards the courts.
Perhaps more telling of the way things have been going down at the Ynon Kreiz run company, Mendelovitz may not be the only top exec on the TV team and elsewhere at Mattel who is heading out the door.
“Michelle is a seasoned and well-respected television executive,” the Liner Freedman Taitelman + Cooley LLP co-founder told Deadline today of Mendelovitz’s shortish stint at Mattel. “She was hired by Mattel and assembled a high caliber team to build out a preeminent television studio for an otherwise dysfunctional company,” Freedman added with clearly carefully chosen words.
“It is unfortunate that certain members of Mattel leadership prevented her from doing so. She is prepared for legal action but hopeful that it will not be necessary. Time will tell if others follow.”
Both in Freedman’s mention of “legal action” and “if others follow,’ the seeds of a rapid escalation of this Mattel matter are certainly planted. Now, currently representing Rebel Wilson in her battle with The Deb producers over various allegations around the TIFF Closing Night drama, and former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo over his surgical exit earlier this year from the Disney+ animated revival, Freedman knows how to lob grenades that land with a bang in both boardrooms and with the media.
Whether this is a tactic to close a hefty exit package or a pulling back on a shoddy veil at Mattel, well – to paraphrase the Hollywood lawyer, “time will tell.”
On that note, Mattel did not respond to request for comment on the latest developments in the Mendelovitz situation. If and when the toy maker does respond, this post will be updated.
A season small screen exec, Mendelovitz joined Mattel in late 2023 not long after the Oscar nominated Barbie proved a box office blockbuster for Warner Bros. and the toy maker. In her role at Mattel, Mendelovitz was designated to oversee and guide the development, production, and distribution of the company’s growing slate of episodic content on broadcast and streaming globally. Over her tenure, Mendelovitz reported to Josh Silverman, Chief Franchise Officer, Mattel.
At Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s executive producer at Hiddenlight Productions prior to joining Mattel and Kreiz’s ambitious plans for the company in the greater media space, Mendelovitz ran Drama Development for 20th TV and was a Senior Creative Executive for Scripted & Unscripted Programming at Apple before that.
As for her next move beyond this Mattel fallout, TBD.
