UPN Gets New Drama Head

Enterprise network UPN this week appointed a new executive in charge of drama programming, continuing the restructuring of the netlet.

Former Univeral Network executive Sonja Piper Dosti will start Monday as the network's senior vice-president of drama development, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Since its creation in 1995, UPN has struggled to carve a niche for itself in the television market. With Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Enterprise helping to revive the netlet's flagging fortunes over the past season, entertainment president Dawn Ostoff said she wants to see UPN develop its own identity.

"As UPN comes off one of the best seasons in the network's history, it is critical that we capitalize on that success by developing strong, quality drama series," she told trade paper Variety. "Sonja is a highly regarded executive whose background perfectly fits our needs and our vision for the future of UPN."

Dosti began her career in the television industry at Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, before moving on to the ABC network and Hollywood Pictures. While vice-president of development at Imagine Television she nutured the critically-acclaimed comedy series Sports Night and coming-of-age drama Felicity.

A revamped Twilight Zone and the supernatural series Haunted will debut this fall to replace the defunct Special Unit 2 and Roswell, which failed to fire ratings. Ostroff hopes Dosti will develop unique drama series to help UPN stand out from the pack. "Just from all I hear about her and know about her, she is somebody who has excellent taste and great story sense," she said. "Her experience is wide-ranging."

Since the network's merger with big brother CBS, the management staff has been completely revamped. Ostroff, who only joined UPN in January, heads a freshman team which also includes head of current programs Laurie Zaks and Kim Fleary, who assumed responsibility for comedy development in July. The position of director of alternative series is still to be filled.

The original article can be found here at the Hollywood Reporter.

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