Disney hooked Noah Z. Jones of 'Fish Hooks' from afar

In Variety, check out the story of Noah Z. Jones, who was plucked from relative obscurity in Maine to create "Fish Hooks," a top-rated DIsney Channel series. Here's an excerpt:

Who better to create a crazy world of fish in water than a fish who is very much out of water?

Noah Z. Jones was in Camden, Maine, minding his own business -- business that consisted of working on children's books and freelance illustrating -- when Disney dropped in some bait.

"It was an out-of-the-blue e-mail," recalls Jones, who was sitting at home one day when he got an e-mail from an executive at Disney asking him to pitch some shows.

"Your brain doesn't know what to do with that information," Jones says.

That e-mail ultimately led to "Fish Hooks," Disney Channel's unusual but successful underwater high-school animated series, which Jones created and co-exec produces. "Fish Hooks" is the No. 2 animated series in TV in the 6-11 and 9-14 demos, trailing only channel-mate "Phineas and Ferb."

It wasn't as if Jones could never imagine being involved with television some day, but the key word there is "imagine."

"It was so far from what I considered a possibility," Jones says. "I always had ideas, but it's kind of like when you're a kid pretending to be an astronaut." ...

Read the rest here.