Williams Street Productions, LLC

Logo used since 1999
Headquarters at Atlanta, Georgia photographed in 2011
Trade name	Williams Street
Formerly	Cartoon Network Productions(1992–1999) Ghost Planet Industries(1994–1999)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Film Television
Genre	Animation Live action
Founded	March 12, 1992; 33 years ago (1992-03-12)
Founders	Mike Lazzo Andy Merrill Khaki Jones
Headquarters	1065 Williams Street NW,Atlanta,Georgia, U.S.
Key people	Michael Ouweleen(President,The Cartoon Network, Inc.) Jason DeMarco(SVP, action/anime) Michael Cahill(VP, on-air/social media) Chris Hartley(VP, on-air production) Kim Manning(VP, programming) Cameron Tang(VP, development)
Products	Television series Television specials Feature films
Parent	The Cartoon Network, Inc.
Divisions	Williams Street Records

Williams Street Productions, LLC,^[1] formerly known asCartoon Network Productions andGhost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned byThe Cartoon Network, Inc., a unit ofWarner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the in-house production arm ofCartoon Network and mainly produces content for its nighttimeprogramming blockAdult Swim.Mike Lazzo andKeith Crofford oversaw operations for the building for most of its existence.

On December 16, 2019, co-founder Lazzo retired from the company,^[2] with business partner and co-founder Crofford retiring the following year.^[3]Michael Ouweleen was named president of Adult Swim on April 29, 2020 as well as The Cartoon Network, Inc. from November 27, 2019 to July 1, 2020 and since May 13, 2022.^[4][5]

In 1976,Ted Turner bought a building at 1065 Williams Street NW inAtlanta,Georgia, using it for his own television station, WTCG. This new channel was the result of a recent UHF takeover. The facility began as a carpet factory and was purchased by Turner as overflow offices for, among other things, set building and woodworking facilities. In December 1976, the first WTCG signal was beamed via satellite to its four cable systems located aroundGeorgia. Starting out as a minor local channel, the station grew into success and was re-launched asWTBS in 1979, Turner bought thecall sign fromMIT's low-power student-run Technology Broadcasting System FM station. Then, after a five-year period, WTBS was renamedTBS Superstation. During this time, Turner also createdCNN, a 24-hour news network. Both became the standard for cable providers by the late 80s. Due to this success, the studio building became too small to operate as a headquarters. A new campus was built across the street for the expanding Turner empire. Upon completion, Turner launchedCartoon Network to showcase their recent acquisitions of the vastMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) andHanna-Barbera library of cartoons, operated by newly formed divisionThe Cartoon Network, Inc. When Cartoon Network moved out of the Williams Street building, they kept ownership, using it as a storage facility. Although no longer its main purpose, to this day, it houses all the show tapes for Turner Networks. The current name of the company originates from the location of its headquarters building.^[6] The street is named for early Atlanta settlerAmmi Williams.

Cartoon Network Productions was formed in 1992 to produce the channel's programming, with its first programmers including Turner employeeMike Lazzo,CNN holdoverAndy Merrill and executive Khaki Jones.^[7] From 1990 to 1993, TBS started original animated programming from Hanna-Barbera such asCaptain Planet and2 Stupid Dogs. Turner refused to allow them to commission original programming, instead emphasizing they needed to prioritize using the corporate archive of animation he recently acquired, such as theHanna-Barbera library.^[8] Among the first productions by the network were anthology series such asToonHeads.^[9]

As Lazzo recounts, “Ted has said, ‘I bought you a library, now utilize it.'"^[10] It was from this library that the Cartoon Network programmers created the channel's first fully original series,The Moxy Show. The series' failure was followed by Lazzo's desire to create an adult-oriented series for the network's late night block, leading to the creation ofSpace Ghost Coast to Coast.^[11][7] They decided to produce their own series pilot. On a shoestring budget, they tried to come up with compatible ideas. During brainstorming, they realized they could simply re-use footage of any series in the Turner library. They eventually settled onSpace Ghost and Dino Boy. Because they felt it would fit, they paired it with Mike Lazzo's idea of a satirical talk show with a clueless host asking guests a stream of stupid questions. The final pilot featured rotoscoped animation superimposed on a simple background and usedCNN interview footage for the live-action interview. The pilot was completed and presented to Cartoon Network, andSpace Ghost Coast to Coast was then greenlit for a ten-episode season. Soon the series was acquiring its first C and D-list celebrity guests, small animation and writing crew, and voice actors.Space Ghost was voiced by local voice actorGeorge Lowe instead ofGary Owens to save costs, whileC. Martin Croker, an animator poached from Designefx, performed other roles. Screenwriter Matt Maiellaro and editor Michael Cahill were brought on through connections to Lazzo, contributing to the series' unique surreal humor and rapid-fire editing. The series eventually premiered on April 14, 1994. Due to its more mature and surreal humor, the series attracted a devoted cult audience. Its success led to a special that was simulcast on TBS, a special short for VHS release of blockbusterThe Mask, and guests who were more well-known.^[7]

Jones and Merrill left the series to handle the network's children-focused programming, while Maiellaro and Cahill left with their own intentions.^[7] In the height of its popularity, Turner commissioned Cartoon Network to produce a child-friendly version of the series for TBS, due to a need for children's programming.Cartoon Planet premiered on TBS in 1995 and later moved to Cartoon Network in 1996; Merrill returned to both series to provide Brak's voice. The studio eventually split from Cartoon Network's programming department to form Williams Street, while Hanna-Barbera, laterCartoon Network Studios, was commissioned to produce daytime programming for the network.^[7] The series featured Space Ghost hosting segments and cartoons for young viewers. After two seasons, TBS decided to cancel all kids' programming, following the trend ofTNT andUSA Network, with its segments being repurposed for a variety show of the same name on Cartoon Network. "Ghost Planet Industries" was a label used by Cartoon Network exclusively for Space Ghost-related projects at the time.

Alongside Cartoon Network Studios' rapid expansion sinceWhat a Cartoon!'s success, Williams Street started producing series for Cartoon Network's late night time slots, with Matt Maiellaro,Dave Willis and former production assistantsAdam Reed andMatt Thompson among those being contracted to develop new series. Between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. on December 21, and December 30, 2000 (whileSpace Ghost Coast to Coast was on hiatus), several new Williams Street series made unannounced "stealth" premieres.Sealab 2021;Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law;Aqua Teen Hunger Force; andThe Brak Show all premiered unannounced;^[12] the official schedules listed the shows as "Special Programming".^[13] Prior to that, inEntertainment Weekly, it was stated thatMichael Ouweleen's next project was working on theHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Pilot withJ. J. Sedelmaier.^[14] In a 1999 interview, the indiepop rock band Calamine stated they had recorded the theme song forSealab 2021.^[15] While entertaining pitches for a variety of adult cartoons, Lazzo realized the potential for packaging them as a complete adult-focused block. Different names were considered, "Parental Warning" and "Parental Block" but he eventually settled on "Adult Swim" .

Cartoon Network originally intended to launch the adult animation block on April 1, 2001, but it was delayed by five months. In June 2001,TV Guide had recorded an interview with Cartoon Network's former president,Betty Cohen. She stated there was a new programming block coming out in September that was aimed for an adult audience.^[16] During this month at the Cartoon Network Confidential, "Cartoon Network's best originals and outrageous animated shorts for discriminating adults" inNew York City, an upcoming episode ofSpace Ghost Coast to Coast titled "Kentucky Nightmare", the stealth pilots from December,Captain Linger, and an episode ofHome Movies were screened for free. The screening was part of the Toyota Comedy Festival. On Saturday, July 21, 2001, theSpace Ghost Coast to Coast panel atSan Diego Comic-Con had a trivia game in which the winners won a promotionalCD that had the theme songs to the upcoming Adult Swim Shows. Everybody who attended got a free Adult Swim t-shirt that was packaged to look like a roll of bandages that alifeguard might carry.

The company's original name, Ghost Planet Industries, came fromSpace Ghost's fictional planet, where the animatedtalk showSpace Ghost Coast to Coast was purportedly filmed.^[17] The company'sproduction logo features a wavy, blurred gray image of Space Ghost's fictional studio, with the words "Williams Street" or formerly "Ghost Planet Industries" beneath it. The soundtrack ofJack Webb'sMark VII Limited's production logo (a rumbling drum roll and two clinks of ahammer) is used while the GPI/Williams Street production card is shown.^[18]

This list is only for video games licensed by Williams Street Games; seeAdult Swim Games for other video games produced after the label's dissolution.

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (2007)
• Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2008)

Williams Street formed their own music label,Williams Street Records. The label was created after Jason DeMarco, Adult Swim's vice president of strategic marketing and promotions, worked onDanger Doom, a project withDanger Mouse andMF Doom in 2005. Danger Mouse had previously worked on the music forToonami and wanted to do an album that sampled that work. The group suggested the idea to Mike Lazzo; the project was successful. Williams Street Records now releases a majority of the music related to their shows. The label is managed by DeMarco.^[51]

1065, the street number for Williams Street, is also the hull number forFishCenter Live's USSFishCenterprise (a parody of theoriginalStar Trek'sUSSEnterprise).^[52]

• List of programs broadcast by Adult Swim
• Adult animation
• Cartoon Network Studios
• List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery

Informational notes

Citations

• Adult Swim official website

• Williams Street
• 1992 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
• American companies established in 1992
• Adult animation studios
• American animation studios
• Adult Swim
• Cartoon Network
• Companies based in Atlanta
• Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries
• Warner Bros. Television Studios
• Warner Bros. divisions
• Mass media companies established in 1992
• Television production companies based in Georgia
• Film production companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from April 2025
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2025
• Use American English from May 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Pages with broken anchors