The revolving door is spinning today with the announcement that Lee Kamlet has left NBC’s Dateline to take the job of head writer on World News with Charles Gibson. Prior to spending 10 years at NBC, Kamlet worked for ABC’s World News Tonight and in special events.
Kamlet replaces Josh Landis who has joined CBS News as a correspondent for CBS Newspath. In addition, Landis will bring “The Fast Draw,” an animated news series he created along with Mitch Butler, to CBS News. Butler is an award-winning cartoonist. The series will air on CBSNews.com as well as on some CBS News broadcasts.
Click continued to read the press release about “The Fast Draw”…
JOSH LANDIS AND MITCH BUTLER, CREATORS OF THE POPULAR
“THE FAST DRAW” ANIMATED NEWS FEATURES, JOIN CBS NEWS
Landis Also Will Serve as a Correspondent for CBS NEWSPATH
Josh Landis and Mitch Butler, the creators of “The Fast Draw,” an animated news series, join CBS News today (7), it was announced by Paul Friedman, Senior Vice President, News Coverage, CBS News. Landis also will serve as a correspondent for CBS NEWSPATH, the world’s largest satellite newsgathering service and the Network’s 24/7 news service to its stations and international broadcast clients.
“The Fast Draw” will both explore and explain the big stories of the day using a combination of live action and cartoons. The result is reporting with a unique mix of energy, explanation, humor and style. The features will appear on a variety of CBS News broadcasts and on CBSNews.com.
“We’re always looking for new ways to help our viewers understand the increasingly complex—and sometimes confounding–world around us,” said Friedman. “Josh and Mitch do that in a unique and informative way that will complement the strong reporting of our anchors and correspondents.”
“Josh brings credibility, I bring chaos,” Butler said. “He looks for relevant, I look for unique. Together, it works.”
“After working on traditional broadcasts for years, it’s extremely liberating to let the audience in on complex ideas by illustrating them in the simplest of terms,” said Landis. “No matter what the story is, we find a way to show and tell people exactly what’s happening behind the headlines.”
In addition to his work for “The Fast Draw,” Landis has had an impressive career as a writer, producer, editor and photographer. He was the head writer for World News With Charles Gibson on ABC (2005-07) and, before that, was a writer for World News Tonight With Peter Jennings (2002-04), head writer of weekend World News (2004-2005) and a writer for Good Morning America (2001-02).
Landis was a producer/writer for CNN (2001-02), primarily for Lou Dobbs Moneyline and American Morning. Before that, he was senior editor for a weekly newspaper published by the National Science Foundation (1999-2001). In that role, Landis spent nearly a year in Antarctica reporting from far-flung locations including the South Pole aboard a working icebreaker, the top of an active volcano and deep in the Transantarctic Mountains. His photos were published in The New York Times, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Landis was an associate producer for Fox News Channel (1996-99), a writer and researcher for the America’s Talking” network (1995-96) and a staff reporter and photographer for The Big Horn County News in Hardin, Mont. (1994). He was part of the ABC News team that won an RTNDA-Edward R. Murrow Award for “World News Tonight.” Landis graduated from Tulane University in 1994 with a degree in sociology.
Butler is an award-winning cartoonist specializing in visual explanation. His cartoons have deciphered nonfiction topics for Discovery Channel, PBS, ABC News and Nova, among others. He has taught graduate classes in animation and storytelling at New York University, Parsons School of Design and The School of Visual Arts. Butler has consulted with technology companies to develop animation software. He directed episodes of G.I. Joe for Hasbro and has created graphics for commercial projects for companies that include American Express, Pepsi, Hewlett-Packard and Coca-Cola. Butler is also known for his short films, such as The Smell of Horror, which have screened at film festivals internationally. Butler grew up in Alaska, and his first job, in high school, was at KTVA, the CBS affiliate there.