Cyma Zarghami
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Cyma Zarghami ( fa, سیما ضرغامی, born December 15, 1962) is an Iranian-born American film studio and former cable television executive who served as the president of
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
and
Viacom Media Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
Kids & Family Group until 2018. She is the founder and CEO of MiMo Studios.


Early life

Zarghami was born in
Abadan, Iran Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...
to an Iranian father, Gholam, and a Scottish mother, Catherine. The family later moved to Canada and finally to
Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...
, where she graduated in the class of 1980 from the
Dwight-Englewood School The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) is an independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, located in Englewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in three ...
and was a recipient of the school's Distinguished Alumni Award. At Dwight-Englewood, she played
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
. In 1980, Zarghami entered the
University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
in
Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...
as an elementary education major, later changing her major to
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
; she did not complete the degree. Zarghami was awarded an honorary diploma by the University of Vermont College of Education and Social Services in 2000.


Career

Zarghami traveled in Europe after leaving college, then returned to Burlington to work for Business Digest. Zarghami joined
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
as a scheduling clerk in 1985. She moved up through the programming department and became the channel's general manager in 1996, overseeing programming, scheduling, acquisitions, marketing, and day-to-day management of the network. Zarghami was promoted to general manager and executive vice-president in 1997. In 2004, the position of president of Nickelodeon Television was created for Zarghami, where she oversaw production and development for the network, along with marketing, programming and creativity. After the resignation of
Herb Scannell Herb Scannell (born January 11, 1957) is an American media executive and businessman. He served as the president of Nickelodeon and TV Land from 1996 to 2006, was the founding CEO of Next New Networks, and the president of BBC Worldwide America. ...
on January 5, 2006, Zarghami became president of the newly formed Kids & Family Group, which included Nickelodeon,
Nick@Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET/Pac ...
,
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
,
TeenNick TeenNick is an American Pay television, pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from si ...
,
Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
,
TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cla ...
, CMT, and
CMT Pure Country Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...
. On June 4, 2018, Zarghami resigned as president of Nickelodeon following 33 years with the network. In February 2020, she launched a production company and consultancy firm, MiMo Studios, to develop original film properties of one hour or less in length for young audiences. MiMo is a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words


Personal life

Zarghami lives in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with her husband George Obergfoll, a
stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...
, and their three sons. She formerly served on the
board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...
of the
Children's Museum of Manhattan The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by Bette Korman, under the name GAME (Growth Through Art and Museum Experience), in 1973. The museum became the Children’s Muse ...
.


Filmography


Television


References


External links


MIPCOM Junior 2008 Keynote addressCyma Zarghami
biography on Nick.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarghami, Cyma Living people Nickelodeon executives Women television executives 20th-century American businesswomen People from Englewood, New Jersey Iranian emigrants to the United States Dwight-Englewood School alumni University of Vermont alumni American people of Scottish descent 1962 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople