Nickelodeon Taps Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley to Produce First-Ever SpongeBob...

Nickelodeon Taps Patrick Creadon and Christine O'Malley to Produce First-Ever
SpongeBob SquarePants Documentary

Acclaimed Filmmakers of Wordplay and I.O.U.S.A to Make TV Documentary about
Porous Pop Culture Icon

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon has inked a deal with
production company O'Malley Creadon to produce the first-ever SpongeBob
SquarePants documentary in celebration of the series' 10th anniversary.
Acclaimed filmmaker Patrick Creadon (Wordplay and I.O.U.S.A) will co-produce,
direct and write the documentary, along with co-producer Christine O'Malley.
The one-hour original television documentary (title TBA) will chronicle the
ascent of the absorbing character's journey to pop culture stardom. It will
be telecast across MTV Networks' various TV platforms in July to commemorate
the anniversary of the series' first episode.

"Patrick and Christine have a talent for finding a greater cultural
significance in their film subjects," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice
President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon and executive
producer of the project. "We're excited to see how they will explore
SpongeBob's ten year evolution from a cartoon character to an international
pop culture phenomenon."

"After spending two years examining the financial health of the United States,
Christine and I were ready to tackle something a little more upbeat," said
Creadon. "Telling the SpongeBob story feels like the perfect fit. Plus, our
three young children think this is the coolest thing ever."

Creadon (director) and O'Malley (producer) have been twice nominated for the
Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for their work, including
Wordplay (2006) and the recent I.O.U.S.A (2008). Wordplay, Creadon's
feature-length directorial debut, is a documentary film about The New York
Times crossword editor and National Public Radio personality, Will Shortz. It
became only the fourth documentary ever to be awarded the "Golden Tomato" from
Rottentomatoes.com for "Best Reviewed Documentary of The Year," and went on to
become the second-highest grossing documentary of 2006, nominated for both a
Critics' Choice Award and a National Board of Review Award for "Best
Documentary of 2006." I.O.U.S.A., Creadon and O'Malley's second documentary,
had its World Premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in the American
Documentary Competition. The film examines America's current financial
situation and explores ways to avoid a financial breakdown for the country.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it "the most unexpectedly
frightening film at Sundance."

Over the last 10 years, SpongeBob SquarePants, the porous brainchild of
creator Steve Hillenburg, has grown from a single Saturday morning kids' show
to a certified pop culture maverick that has inspired nothing less than fun
and frenzy around the world. Soaking up everything from clothing to
controversy, the show has inspired people to deeply identify with the
characters, to adorn themselves with SpongeBob tattoos, to use SpongeBob
products to save lives and even, occasionally, to vandalize and politicize the
character; but most of all, to kick back, laugh and relax. The series receives
70 million viewers monthly, and has been the number-one animated program with
Kids 2-11 for more than seven consecutive years. The show is seen in 171
markets in 25 languages and is the most widely distributed property in MTV
Networks' history.

Patrick Creadon began his career as one of the youngest cameramen in the
history of PBS, shooting and producing cinema-verite style stories for the
critically acclaimed series The 90's. He earned his Master's Degree in
Cinematography at the American Film Institute, where his thesis film (on which
he served as Director of Photography) was nominated for a student Academy
Award. As a cameraman his work has appeared on every major network, including
NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV, VH1, and ESPN. He has also done work for Paramount
Pictures, Warner Brothers, Sony, Universal Studios, and Disney.

Christine O'Malley studied film and video production at Columbia College,
Chicago. Her first job was as a researcher at Van Ness Films on several A&E
Biographies and later, she teamed with Producer/Director Scott Goldstein to
produce several critically acclaimed documentaries for the Museum of
Tolerance. In 2004, she served as Associate Producer on the Academy
Award-nominated documentary film Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room.
Wordplay was the first feature length film she has produced through her
production company O'Malley Creadon Productions.

In addition to the documentary, Nickelodeon celebrated the top-ranked kids'
show with the first-ever SpongeBob live cast performance in Park City, Utah
during the 2009 Film Festival on Jan. 18; a new fan website for all things
SpongeBob (http://www.spongebob.com); a SpongeBob and water
conservation-themed element to the network's The Big Green Help pro-social
campaign in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the
National Wildlife Federation; special TV events; and new lines of apparel,
jewelry, toys, games and DVDs.

SpongeBob SquarePants is executive produced by creator Stephen Hillenburg, who
previously worked as a writer, director and creative director on Nickelodeon's
animated series Rocko's Modern Life. Hillenburg graduated from the California
Institute of the Arts with a master's degree in experimental animation and
studied marine biology and art as an undergraduate.

Paul Tibbitt served as a director and writer on SpongeBob SquarePants in its
first three seasons and is currently executive producer. He wrote some of the
show's most memorable episodes such as "Ripped Pants" and "Mermaid Man &
Barnacle Boy." Tibbitt was one of the co-writers and storyboard artists on The
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. SpongeBob SquarePants is a Nicktoons Production
and is produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif.

Nickelodeon, now in its 30th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for
kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in
everything it does. The company includes television programming and production
in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online,
recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television
network is seen in more than 98 million households and has been the
number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. For more
information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all
related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA,
VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon

Nicole Parker, Nickelodeon/LA, +1-818-736-3613, Nicole.parker@nick.com, or
Maria Poulos, Nickelodeon/NY, +1-212-846-6283, Maria.poulos@nick.com