James Waese is now in charge of all creative elements of Cookie Jar Entertainment’s production slate, having been upped to VP of current programming at the Toronto animation house. The appointment is effective immediately.

Waese joined Cookie Jar in 2004, and has since worked as a writer, producer and director on various shows including three seasons of the popular CBC kids series The Doodlebops. He also produced and co-directed the Christmas special Gotta Catch Santa Claus, starring William Shatner as the voice of Santa Claus.

Waese will report to Cookie Jar’s VP of production Pam Slavin.

‘Jamie is an industry veteran with a strong background in production and programming and will be a great asset to the company,’ commented Slavin in a release.

Prior to joining Cookie Jar, Waese had executive roles at Kids’ CBC, and also worked as manager of current programming for Walt Disney TV Animation.