EDUCATORS: NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2012 FACULTY SEMINAR
Jesse Alexander
Writer/Producer
Jesse Alexander is a writer and producer of TV, MOVIES, VIDEO GAMES, and COMIC BOOKS. He was a co-executive producer and writer on the first three seasons of HEROES; NBC’s epic saga that chronicles the lives of ordinary people discovering they possess extraordinary abilities. Jesse was also an executive producer on the exciting HEROES spin-off: ORIGINS. Previously, Alexander was an executive producer on J.J. Abrams’ innovative serial spy drama: ALIAS. Abrams then enlisted Alexander to help develop ABC’s ground breaking serial adventure LOST. Alexander served as a co-executive producer through season one, sharing the Emmy Award for outstanding drama with his fellow LOST producers.
Jesse has been an innovator in the field of transmedia storytelling. The process of extending narrative across multiple media platforms simultaneously. Jesse’s transmedia strategy was critical to the success of ALIAS and LOST. The transmedia content he designed for HEROES established a new paradigm for how television shows can thrive cross platform. In 2008, Jesse won his second Emmy Award for the HEROES online content. Jesse has spoken at M.I.T., Lucasfilm, NewTeeVee, The Game Developers Conference, Microsoft Research, The AFI, SMPTE, USC, and others about the exciting potential of a transmedia approach to storytelling. When Jesse is not working on DAY ONE, his new event miniseries for NBC, he is sharing his notes from the transmedia trenches on his blog: www.globalcouch.com and via twitter as: globalcouch.
Jeffrey Bader
Executive Vice President, Planning, Scheduling and Distribution,
ABC Entertainment Group
Jeffrey D. Bader was named executive vice president, Planning, Scheduling and Distribution, ABC Entertainment Group, in June 2009. In this position he continues as ABC Entertainment’s senior executive in charge of primetime and late-night program planning and scheduling. Beyond these network-specific duties, Mr. Bader is responsible for facilitating and coordinating global programming, distribution and windowing strategies for all ABC Entertainment Group programs across all platforms, both domestic and international. Previously, Mr. Bader was executive vice president, ABC Entertainment, since September 2000.
Mr. Bader joined ABC in 1988 as supervisor, Audience Analysis. He became manager, Audience and Program Research, in 1989; manager, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1991; director in 1992; executive director in 1994; vice president, Current Series Programming, in 1995; vice president, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1996; and senior vice president, Program Planning and Scheduling, in 1998.
Prior to joining ABC, Mr. Bader held senior research positions at the MTM Distribution Group and at NBC.
Mr. Bader received a Master of Arts degree with distinction from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California. He graduated with honors from Williams College in Massachusetts.
Raised in Wayland, Massachusetts, he now resides in Los Angeles, California.
Preston Beckman
Executive Vice President, Strategic Program Planning and Research
Fox Broadcasting Company
Preston Beckman is Executive Vice President, Strategic Program Planning and Research for Fox Broadcasting Company. Dr. Beckman oversees all FOX strategic program planning and scheduling, including series launches, sweeps events and the design and implementation of year-round programming operations. He is responsible for all audience research and measurement initiatives, and works with FOX development and other creative executives to identify future programming needs within the FOX primetime schedule, and to coordinate emerging audience trends with planned series, specials and other FOX offerings.
Dr. Beckman was appointed to his current position in May 2000 after serving for nearly 20 years at NBC, where he was Executive Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling, NBC Entertainment, from June 1997. As the executive responsible for long-range primetime program planning and scheduling, he helped NBC to victories in more than 20 sweeps periods and four consecutive (1995-99) broadcast seasons. He also served as a key liaison between NBC Entertainment and NBC News on “Dateline NBC” from the 1992 premiere of that award-winning newsmagazine, and was involved in developing and overseeing such reality shows and specials as “I Witness Video,” “World’s Most Amazing Videos” and “You Asked for It.”
Steve Binder
Director/Producer
Winner of the 2009 Caucus Award for directing, Steve Binder has a long and distinguished career in television, film and the recording industry. An Emmy and Ace award winner and multiple-nominee for both the Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, Steve has been guest speaker on two separate occasions at the prestigious William Paley Center (formerly named the Museum of Television & Radio) in both Los Angeles and New York where an evening was devoted to his work in the entertainment industry including his acclaimed Diana Ross specials. Steve won the Director Ace Award for his direction of the now historical “Diana Ross in Central Park” worldwide telecast during a thunderous rainstorm.
Steve was also keynote speaker to a standing room only audience at the Hall Of Fame Museum of Rock ’n Roll in Cleveland, Ohio. His subject was his highly acclaimed 1968 “Elvis Comeback Special” an NBC television special that TV Guide called “The second greatest musical moment in television history next to the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan.” “This legendary special offered not only an unplugged session years before the term became the vogue, but yielded the finest music of Elvis’s career,” stated rock critic and historian Greil Marcus. Binder’s 2008 book “‘68@40; A Retrospective" was sold-out in its first week of publication. The paperback edition is scheduled for release in 2010.
Steve is currently an active member of the Directors Guild of America, The Producers Guild of America and The Caucus of Television Producers, Directors and Writers. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences representing the Directors peer group. Steve has taught a directing course at USC (adjunct professor), UCLA and Columbia College-Hollywood where he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree in 2008.
Daniel H. Birman
Daniel H. Birman Productions, Inc.
Birman is currently completing, “Brace for Impact: the Chesley B. Sullenberger Story” a special about what was saved when the pilot of Flight 1549 safely landed his aircraft on the Hudson River. The program is being produced for TLC. He is completing She’s Screaming: No one is Listening (working title), a documentary about a 16-year-old girl who committed murder and whose personal downward spiral from birth lends insight into complex social issues. Most recently, Birman produced a one-hour special for National Geographic Channel: Death of the Universe explores new theories about the fate of the universe that have evolved since Einstein. Earlier he completed, Europa: Mystery of the Ice Moon, a one-hour special for The Science Channel about exploring a moon of Jupiter that just might support life; and Medical Maverick – two one-hour shows for Discovery Health Channel that look at the work of a world-class trauma surgeon. Prior Birman produced The Team, a four-part and first-ever nonfiction series for Nickelodeon, and Chopper Rescue a one-hour trauma pilot for Discovery Health. Before that, he produced Alternatives: Uncovered – a series of one-hour programs also for Discovery Health.
Birman worked with some of the nation’s leading research physicians during a six-year association with Lifetime Medical Television. He produced for Physicians' Journal Update and Specialty Update, two highly acclaimed series. He then produced several one-hour internal medicine specials for Lifetime.
He was Production Coordinator and Second Unit camera on documentary and network productions with Brookfield Productions in Los Angeles. Among these were such award-winning programs as It's A New Day... and Just the Way You Are. He also worked on the NBC special, The Day My Kid Went Punk and the ABC Afterschool Special, The Donna Cheek Story.
Mr. Birman directed and shot a documentary about famed radio personality Norman Corwin, and shot The Children of Skid Row. Both were aired on PBS and were done while earning a Master’s in Journalism at the University of Southern California. Mr. Birman began his career with a PBS Network affiliate in Southern California. He worked for six years on a weekly series focusing on California politics.
In 2001 The University of Southern California invited Mr. Birman to join the Annenberg School of Journalism faculty where he teaches courses in nonfiction television writing and production. He is Executive Producer for student documentaries and Impact, a student-produced newsmagazine series. He has led his students to victory earning several College Television Awards from the Television Academy.
Birman represents nonfiction television on the Board of Governors for The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where he also served two terms as Secretary. He directed a national search for the Academy’s Executive Director, and he currently Chairs the By-Laws Committee. He has been an active member on the National Emmy Awards Committee and the Educational Programs and Services Committee, established for students entering the television industry.
Speaking Engagements: Birman produced a panel with network heads to address, “What is Nonfiction?” at the Television Academy. He presented his Europa documentary to an international space research organization, and for NASA scientists at The Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He has presented at a national writer’s conference. Birman led a panel on journalistic malpractice in reporting healthcare; he has led panels for RealScreen Summit in Washington, D.C., Television Academy nonfiction panels for educators and students entering television, and was a juror at the Shanghai Television Festival as one of five judges of international documentaries at China’s premiere television awards competition.
Casey Bloys
Senior Vice President, HBO Entertainment
Casey Bloys is senior vice president, HBO Entertainment, for Home Box Office, responsible for overseeing the development and production of half-hour scripted comedy for the network, including the Emmy®, Golden Globe® and Peabody Award-winning Entourage, the latest hit Hung, and the newest series Bored to Death.. He was named to this position in June 2009.
Bloys joined HBO in 2004 as director, Development, HBO Independent Productions (HIP), and promoted to vice president, HIP, in 2005. In 2006, he was named vice president, HBO Entertainment, spearheading the development and production of comedy series that include Flight of the Conchords, Summer Heights High, The Life and Times of Tim, and Eastbound & Down.
Prior to HBO, he was director, Development, for Wass-Stein Productions, from 2000 to 2004. He began his career as an assistant in the Current and Development departments of CBS.
Bloys has a BA in Economics from Northwestern University.
Caitlin Bogert
Manager, Marketing Product Sales
Entertainment Partners
Caitlin Bogert is manager of marketing product sales for Entertainment Partners and works closely with EP Budgeting and Scheduling software systems. Caitlin began her work in the entertainment industry working for Entertainment Partners Central Casting. At Central Casting, Caitlin gained hands on production experience as a casting director on shows such as Cold Case, Alias, CSI Miami, and How I Met Your Mother.
Cheryl Carson
Senior Executive Producer, KTTV FOX 11/KCOP
Cheryl Carson is an Emmy Award winning Senior Executive Producer for KTTV FOX 11/KCOP. She is responsible for overseeing the 10pm and 11pm news, everything from live breaking news, writing, news gathering, editing, and producing the live broadcasts. Before her 10 years at KTTV, Cheryl worked her way up through the ranks of FOX, NBC and ABC stations nationwide. As Vice President of News at WGHP, in Greensboro North Carolina, Cheryl was brought in to make the transition from an ABC to FOX. WGHP rose to become the #1 rated station in the market producing 6 1/2 hours of news a day. Cheryl started out in the news world as an Anchor/Reporter, shooting, writing and editing her own stories. Recent Emmys include Best Newscast and Breaking News coverage. FOX11 also took home a Golden Mic Award for Breaking News on the "Metrolink Crash" coverage.
Debra Curtis
Vice President of U.S. Current Programming
Sony Pictures Television
Debra Curtis serves as Vice President of U.S. Current Programming for Sony Pictures Television (SPT). She was appointed to this position in 2004. In this position, Curtis oversees current programs such as Damages (FX), Rescue Me (FX), Rules of Engagement (CBS), Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) and Community (NBC). Previously, Curtis served as Executive Director, Current Programming.
Curtis joined TriStar Television in 1995 as an assistant in series development. Her career began with assistant jobs which included 2 years at CAA and 6 months with writer/producer Bruce Wagner. She is originally from New Rochelle, NY and is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA with a BA in English and American Literature. She moved to Los Angeles when she was awarded an internship from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation. Her work with the Foundation continues today as she has been serving as Chair of the Foundation's New Leadership Council since 2006.
Bob Del Valle
Producer
Born and raised in San Francisco, Bob Del Valle relocated to Los Angeles where he attended UCLA film school, graduating in 1973.
After gaining experience on a number of low budget independent projects (amazing the jobs you can get when you’re willing to work for free), he joined the Directors Guild of America in 1979. Since then, he has worked as an assistant director, moving up to production manager and is now also producing.
He was a producer on the HBO television series “Six Feet Under”, on which he worked through its entire run. Additionally, Bob has been involved with various episodic television productions and pilots, including such series as “Swingtown” “Shark”, “The Sopranos”, “Ally McBeal”, “Melrose Place”, “Hunter”, “Northern Exposure”, and “The Wonder Years”. He has also worked on the PBS miniseries “Tales of the City”, the HBO miniseries “John Adams” and the ABC 6-hour miniseries “Stephen King’s The Shining”. Additionally, he has worked on features (some he’d rather forget), movies-of-the-week, sit-coms, a feature documentary, music videos and commercials.
Bob has been nominated for two Emmy Awards, two Producers Guild of America Awards and is a seven-time nominee for the Directors Guild of America Award, having received one for the pilot of “Six Feet Under”. His book, THE ONE-HOUR DRAMA SERIES: Producing Episodic Television, was published in 2008 by Silman/James Press. Bob has been a guest speaker at numerous university television production classes and has also consulted internationally. In addition to the DGA, he is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Bill D’Elia
Executive Producer/Director
Bill D’Elia made his feature film directing debut with “The Feud” (1990), which he adapted from the novel of the same name by Thomas Berger. D’Elia made his television directing debut the following year, directing multiple episodes of the Emmy award-winning “Northern Exposure.”
Today his directing credits include episodes of the Emmy award-winning “Picket Fences,” “The West Wing,” “Law and Order” and “Chicago Hope,” several movies for television including “The Dottie West Story,” and episodes of many hit series such as “American Dreams” and “The Practice.”
Prior to beginning his feature/television directing career D’Elia built his reputation as a director of television commercials with his own New York based production company. His commercials have received numerous industry awards, including the Addy, Clio, Telly, and the Art Director One Show awards.
From 1996 to 2000, D’Elia was Executive Producer/Director of “Chicago Hope,” receiving two Golden Globe and three Emmy nominations including a nomination for “Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series” for the musical episode entitled “Brain Salad Surgery.” Over the four years that D’Elia was an Executive Producer, “Chicago Hope” received a total of thirty-three Emmy nominations.
In 1999 D’Elia co-created the hit drama series “Judging Amy.” In 2000 he became Executive Producer/Director of the Emmy award-winning series “Ally McBeal,” and received two more Golden Globe nominations. For the first episode of “Ally” that D’Elia directed entitled “Ally McBeal: The Musical,” he received another Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.” In the fourth season of “Ally,” D’Elia directed the episodes that introduced Robert Downey, Jr. to the cast and was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series” for the episode entitled “The Last Virgin.”
From 2001 to 2004 D’Elia was a Consulting Producer/Director for various television series including “Miracles” and “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” while continuing to direct episodes of “The West Wing.” In 2003 he directed a short comedy segment for “Saturday Night Live” entitled “Al Gore visits The West Wing” starring the former Vice President.
In 2004, he became a Consulting Producer/Director of “The Practice,” during that show’s final season. Helping David E. Kelley create the characters and settings that would live and work in the fictitious law firm of “Crane, Poole & Schmidt,” D’Elia then directed the pilot of “Boston Legal.” From 2005 to 2009, D’Elia received a Peabody Award and four more Emmy nominations for his work on “Boston Legal”: twice for “Outstanding Drama Series” as an Executive Producer in 2007 and 2008; and twice for “Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series” in 2007 and 2009. In 2008, D’Elia was one of the recipients of the first Television Academy Honors given by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to recognize “television with a conscience and achievements in programming that present issues of concern to society in a compelling, emotional and insightful way”.
Since wrapping “Boston Legal” in December 2008, D’Elia’s projects have included directing Jeff Goldblum’s pilot episode of “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” and episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy”, “GLEE”, “Eastwick” and “The Mentalist”. He also produced and directed the stand up comedy special “Dov Davidoff Tonight” that will air on Comedy Central in 2010.
Sandra Dewey
Senior Vice President, Turner Entertainment Networks
Sandra Dewey is currently the senior vice president of the Turner Entertainment Networks (consisting of TNT, TBS, truTV and TCM) and Cartoon Network, where she heads the networks’ original programming business units. Dewey’s responsibilities include overseeing business affairs and production for the TNT and TBS original productions, including scripted and unscripted series, the soon to premiere George Lopez late night talk show, specials, digital programming, and comedy festivals. She is also responsible for the business operations of truTV, Turner Classic Movies and the Cartoon Network. Dewey is based in Los Angeles and reports to Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, and Stuart Snyder, president and COO of Cartoon Network.
Previously, Dewey was senior vice president of TNT Originals. She joined TNT from Warner Bros. legal affairs division. Dewey also served as senior counselor for Turner Pictures’ legal affairs department. She worked previously as an associate at the law firm Greenberg Glusker where she worked closely with Bert Fields, including several years during which her primary client was Michael Jackson.
Turner Network Television (TNT), a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television’s destination for drama and one of cable’s top-rated networks. It offers original movies and series, including the blockbuster detective series The Closer, starring Emmy ®, Golden Globe_ and Screen Actors Guild Awards_ nominee Kyra Sedgwick, Leverage, starring Oscar ® winner Timothy Hutton, and the highly-anticipated, Men of a Certain Age, starring Emmy ® winner Ray Romano, Golden Globe® winner Scott Bakula, and Emmy ® winner Andre Braugher. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as HawthoRNe, Saving Grace, Dark Blue, Raising the Bar, Bones, Without a Trace, and Law & Order; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards_; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is also available in high-definition.
TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television’s “very funny” network. It serves as home to such hot comedies as Lopez Tonight, The Office, Family Guy, Everyone Loves Raymond; original comedy series, like My Boys, Meet the Browns, and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne; specials and special events, like The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas, for which TBS serves as title sponsor; blockbuster movies; and hosted movie showcases.
When not in the office, Dewey is part of the leadership of Los Angeles’ Turner Women Today– a resource and mentoring group for Turner women in the workplace. In addition, she is involved with the charitable foundation Fresh stART, and is on the committee of its annual fundraising event. All of her remaining time and energy are devoted to her two daughters, Charlie and Pearl.
Denny Dugally
Production Designer - Brothers and Sisters
A Los Angeles native, Denny has been Production Designing and Art Directing for film, television, commercials & music videos for over 20 years. She is in her 3rd season as Production Designer for the ABC Television series brothers & sisters starring Sally Field and Calista Flockhart.
Some of her previous television projects include Without a Trace, Numbers, Felicity, Arrested Development (Emmy nom) and NYPD Blue which garnered her an Emmy as the Art Director. Some of her feature films include America’s Sweethearts, Kill Your Darlings, Torch Song Trilogy, Greener Mountains, and many more. She is also a part time professor, teaching Art Direction previously at Loyola Marymount University and currently at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Denny was previously Artistic Director for the Urban Art Consortium, a group of local artists, in Los Angeles. She has exhibited her Mixed Media Fine Art—some of her pieces using her photography in a mixed setting—in several shows in the area. Art Unites 3 will be the first time she is showing her photography in it’s pure form, uniting her love of travel with her love of photography. The photos exhibited here are 4 out of 4000 shot while on a 3-week trip to Bolivia and Peru in July of 2008. They were all taken with a Nikon D60 with available light and there has been NO manipulation or photo shopping of any kind.
Denny can be reached via her email: dzinergrrl@aol.com.
Scott Ferguson
Producer
SCOTT FERGUSON has had the privilege of working with some of the leading directors in the motion picture business including Jay Roach, Michel Gondry, David Mamet, Mick Jackson, and Steve Zaillian as well as Academy Award winners Milos Forman, Sydney Pollack, Robert Benton, Ang Lee and Barry Levinson. He has also helped talented newcomers such as Lisa Cholodenko, Alan Taylor, Catherine Hardwicke, and James Mangold on their first features.
Scott was Producer of TEMPLE GRANDIN, starring Claire Danes, David Straithairn, Catherine O'Hara and Julia Ormond, which will be released in 2010 on HBO Films.
Previously he served as Unit Production Manager of the Emmy Award-winning film RECOUNT, also for HBO Films. Scott was Co-Producer of Ang Lee's Academy Award winning 2005 release BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Executive Producer of Lisa Cholodenko's LAUREL CANYON and Co-Producer of David Mamet's feature, HEIST.
He was Unit Manager on THE FIRM and Associate Producer on NOBODY'S FOOL, A FAMILY THING, TWILIGHT, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, and MAN ON THE MOON, and an Assistant Director on ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. He has also worked on a number of high quality indie films; he was Co-Producer of Alan Taylor's PALOOKAVILLE which won the prize for best Feature Debut at the Venice Film Festival.
Scott was Associate Producer & Second Unit Director of James Mangold's HEAVY, which received a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He also served as Production Consultant on Catherine Hardwicke's directing debut, THIRTEEN which received Best Director at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Most recently, Scott served as Producer of YOU DON'T KNOW JACK, directed by Barry Levinson for HBO Films, starring Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Danny Huston, Brenda Vaccaro and Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
Stephen R. Fisch, Esq.
Business Affairs Executive
As Vice President Business Affairs for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and MGM Television Entertainment, Steve negotiates deals for the upcoming slate of MGM motion pictures to be released in 2010 (“Matarese Circle” to star Denzel Washington (based on the Robert Ludlum book) and The Zookeeper), and Direct-to-Video films (Into the Blue 2, Colors, and Back to School).
For the past eleven years, college professors from throughout the U.S. who attend the annual ATAS Foundation Faculty Seminar, have enjoyed learning from Steve about ‘real world’ legal issues that student filmmakers face.
Previously, Steve was a Business and Legal Affairs Executive with Starz Media (The Simpsons, Masters of Horror, Eloise and Rob Zombie’s “El Super Beasto” movie), with responsibility for Digital Media, Anime, Live Action and Animation projects, from merchandising, marketing, promotion and advertising to clearances and copyrights, and from production counsel to finance and distribution. He also represented Starz on the Legal Committee of the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Earlier in his career, Steve had Business & Legal Affairs responsibility for over 60 television motion pictures and numerous series while at Fox Family Worldwide (News Corp) and Wilshire Court Productions (Viacom).
As a volunteer, Steve handles business and legal affairs for the Academy Foundation’s “Journeys Below the Line” series (“24: The Editing Process”, “ER: The Prop Masters” and “LOST: The Cinematography Team”).
Prior to law school, Steve was on the production side of the house, including segment producer/researcher on the ABC series "Ripley's Believe It or Not!”, and producer of both the syndicated television movie documentary "Doomsday Chronicles" and the Peabody Award winning "Snippets" spots. His first entertainment job was as the ‘gofor’ on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In!”
A Vietnam veteran and a retired Navy Reserve Captain, Steve worked out of the Navy’s Hollywood Liaison Office where his projects included “Men of Honor”, “Behind Enemy Lines”, “JAG” and “NCIS.” He was awarded the “Legion of Merit” for his significant contributions.
Steve is a graduate of Loyola Law School and the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television.
Daniel Frankel
Entertainment Reporter – TheWrap
Daniel Frankel is a Los Angeles-based entertainment reporter, covering both film and television. He currently writes for TheWrap, while blogging for digital outlets including Comcast’s Fancast portal and AOL’s Inside Movies. He served seven years on staff at Variety before the venerable publication’s decision to exit journalism earlier this year.
Katy Garretson
Director
KATY GARRETSON is a graduate of The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at The University of Southern California, with degrees in both Journalism and Business Communications. Katy got the “film bug” while working during college as a tourguide at Universal Studios. Following graduation, and a brief period as a production assistant and stand-in, she was accepted into the Directors Guild Training Program, which led to several years as a successful Assistant Director. As an AD, Katy worked mainly on features and movies-of-the-week. Her AD credits include “Star Trek VI,” “Clifford,” “Switch,” “The Specialist,” over a dozen MOWs, several television episodics and commercials for such companies as AT&T and Honda. Then she got the call for a little show called “Frasier,” and decided it would be fun to go to work and laugh every day.
During her ten-year run on “Frasier,” Katy got her first opportunity to direct – and was nominated for a DGA Award for her initial effort. More episodes followed, and she then branched out to other shows. Katy currently has directed over 50 episodes of primetime television. Her credits include “Titus,” “Reba,” “Girlfriends,” “George Lopez,” “Rita Rocks,” and “True Jackson VP,” to name but a few. In 2007, Katy ventured into “new media,” directing numerous three-minute interstitial “bitcoms” for TBS and the web called “lovebites,” as well as the pilot and first two episodes of the new web series “Nurses Who Kill...” Katy also wrote and produced a documentary, funded by the Annenberg Foundation, called “The Arctic.” This film, which focused on global warming, was a Special Selection at The Chicago Film Festival.
Recently, Katy worked with the acclaimed Jim Henson Company on their fist children’s show for PBS since their involvement with Sesame Street, “Sid the Science Kid.” The show utilizes bleeding-edge technology, which combines motion capture and digital puppetry. Katy directed numerous episodes of “Sid...” and was recently interviewed by both Animation World Magazine and Computer Graphics World Magazine as one of the few directors in this new-technology arena.
Katy has spoken on panels for the DGA (she is a former DGA Associate National Board member and Council Chair), Women in Film, the Newport Beach Film Festival, Film Oregon Alliance, and the TV Academy, of which she is also a member. She has been profiled in Emmy magazine in an article on women directors, The Hollywood Reporter as “One to Watch,” and was profiled and featured in the cover photo of the DGA Magazine article entitled “Directing Comedy.” She has been nominated for a DGA Award and two BET Awards, has directed numerous award-winning performers, and four of her guest stars have been nominated for Emmys. Katy also taught a class at AFI on sitcom directing.
Greg Goodfried
Co-Founder, President and COO, EQAL
Co-Creator and Executive Producer, lonelygirl15 and KateModern
LG15.com
EQAL.com
Greg Goodfried is the co-founder, president and COO of the social entertainment company, EQAL.
He is the co-creator and executive producer of the breakthrough online video series lonelygirl15, KateModern and Harper’s Globe, the social show extension to CBS’s 13-episode mystery event, “Harper’s Island.”
Most recently Goodfried and team have adjusted EQAL’s business model to adapt to the quickly evolving Internet landscape, developing the hugely successful Get Cookin’ with Paula Deen (http://getcookin.pauladeen.com/), and the Website for Level 26 (www.level26.com) - a digi-novel thriller from CSI-creator Anthony E. Zuiker – as well as TheKindLife with Alicia Silverstone (www.thekindlife.com). Both social entertainment Web sites are updated daily with content and have rapidly growing audiences.
While practicing law as a first-year associate, Goodfried, along with Miles Beckett and Mesh Flinders, created lonelygirl15 in the summer of 2006. Goodfried and Beckett followed this success with KateModern in the summer of 2007 and formed EQAL to develop and create new interactive shows. lonelygirl15 and KateModern became pop culture phenomena and are the most popular online interactive shows, collectively receiving more than 150 million views to date.
As an entertainment attorney, Goodfried’s background is in new media and copyright law. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley where he was a member of the men's varsity golf team. He received a J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles and went on to practice law at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP. Goodfried is married to Amanda Goodfried, series producer on lonelygirl15 and head of production for EQAL’s Los Angeles office.
As an expert on the convergence of entertainment and technology and online video, Goodfried has spoken on panels throughout Europe and across the U.S. and Canada. including Comic-Con San Diego, WonderCon, NATPE and nextMEDIA, and was a co-host with Miles Beckett of Mixed Media, a live streaming web show on NowLive (nowlive.com). Goodfried currently sits on the international advisory board for nextMEDIA.
Nick Grad
Executive Vice President of Original Programming
FX Network
Nick Grad is Executive Vice President of Original Programming, heading up the original programming department of FX, a position he has held since December of 2005.
As EVP, Grad played a pivotal role in the development of FX’s four most recent drama series: Sons of Anarchy, Damages, The Riches and Dirt. In his previous position as Senior Vice President of Drama and Comedy Series Development, he was heavily involved in the development of the Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominated drama series Rescue Me; Emmy Award winner Thief; the critically acclaimed Over There and the comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
In May 2002, Grad came to FX as Vice President of Series Development and helped develop the Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning drama Nip/Tuck and Emmy nominated comedy Lucky starring John Corbett.
Prior to joining FX, Grad worked for Columbia TriStar Television from 1995-2002, rising to the position of Vice President of Comedy Development in 1999. At Columbia TriStar he developed The King of Queens for CBS, Action and The Tick for FOX. He began his career in programming at FOX in 1992.
He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Carolyn Bernstein and their two children reside in Los Angeles.
Arthur Greenwald
President, Greenwald Media, Inc.
Arthur Greenwald is president of Greenwald Media, Inc, which creates television programs, promotions, public service campaigns and live events for the entertainment and communications industries. Greenwald also frequently consults oncontent and marketing strategies for new media and related technologies. Greenwald Media's clients include CBS, PBS, Southern California PublicRadio, Yale University, the Ad Council, the Consumer Electronics Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. A pioneer in the use of video for health education, Greenwald wrote and produced the Going to the Hospital series with Fred Rogers (of Mister Rogers fame.) Greenwald is also a contributing editor of TVNEWSCHECK and the co-producer of UP NEXT AT CES, a media conference at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, January 7 and 8 in Las Vegas.
Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Writer/Producer
Javier Grillo-Marxuach is an Award-winning writer and producer of television, movies, comic books and interactive media best known for his work on the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, American Film Institute honoree “Lost.”
Most recently, Grillo-Marxuach created and executive-produced “The Middleman,” based on his series of graphic novels. He is currently adapting the novel “Patient Zero,” as a television series for ABC and developing “Aftershock,” a series of his own creation for FOX.
After graduating with a B.A. in creative writing and cultural studies from Carnegie Mellon University and earning an M.F.A. in screenwriting from the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, Grillo-Marxuach began his career as a Primetime series executive at NBC, working on current shows and drama development.
Further writing and producing credits for television include “Medium,” “Day One,” “The Pretender,” “Charmed,” “The Chronicle,” “seaQuest” and “Jake 2.0” as well as as well as “Boomtown” - which was honored by the American Film Institute, earned a George Foster Peabody award for excellence in broadcasting, and was nominated for the Golden Globe.
Grillo-Marxuach has also written for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “The Dead Zone” and “Dark Skies,” sold pilots to ABC, FOX, NBC, The WB and The Sci-Fi channel, directed a short film and created several works for the stage. Alongside his work on “Lost,” Grillo-Marxuach worked as producer and performer on “The Lost Experience,” a Clio Award winning multi-media interactive game that explained the mysteries of the television series over a series of web pages, blogs, podcasts, internet videos, television commercials, radio broadcasts, newspaper and magazine articles, live events - and even a best-selling novel.
In addition to three volumes of “The Middleman,” Grillo-Marxuach wrote the four issue mini-series “Annihilation: Super-Skrull” and “Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith,” for marvel comics as well as “Cylon Apocalypse,” a comic mini-series based on the classic “Battlestar Galactica” TV series for Dynamite Entertainment. Javier Grillo-Marxuach was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His name is pronounced "HA-VEE-AIR GREE-JOH MARX-WATCH."
Dave Harding
Executive Producer
Producer
Production Executive
Dave Harding is an Emmy nominated producer of award winning non-fiction and reality-based documentaries, television movies, variety and award specials, and hidden-camera projects.
He is a proven program supplier to the CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX networks, as well as HBO, Showtime, National Geographic, A&E/History Channels and the Discovery Network’s multiple networks.
Currently, Dave is supervising the second season of “Time Warp” for the Discovery Channel, the third season of History Channel’s “Mega-Disasters,” National Geographic’s “Prehistoric Predators,” and Animal Planet’s “Street Dogs” feature doc, the “Escape to Chimp Eden” series and a new series for APL called “Savaged! with Dave Salmoni.” Dave also serves as Lionsgate Television’s Executive In Charge of Production on all Lionsgate’s feature docs, including Werner Herzog’s “Encounters at The End of The World,”Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man,” Lian Lunson’s “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man,” and “The U.S. vs. John Lennon” by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld, Barry Blaustein’s “High School Musical” and Pete McCormack’s “Facing Ali.”
Dave produced and directed the first two Criss Angel specials, including ABC Family’s highly rated Halloween special “Criss Angel MindFreak,” and the Sci Fi Channel’s magic special “Criss Angel SuperNatural” as well as creating and exec producing "MTV's Celebrity Undercover."
Harding established himself as a producer in the 1980’s working with legendary variety producer Bob Banner. During that time, Harding was one of the original producers of the syndicated music series “It’s Show Time at the Apollo” and produced the first five years of the series in New York, introducing television audiences to hosts Rick Aviles, Sinbad, Mark Curry and Steve Harvey. Also working with Don Weiner, Harding produced Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For,” featuring performances by Warwick, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elton John.
Mick Jackson
Director
Mick Jackson, the director, is a three-time DGA Award winner for his work on HBO's "Live From Baghdad," HBO's "Indictment: The McMartin Trial" and "Tuesdays With Morrie". He has been nominated for two Emmy* Awards for his direction of the Golden Globe nominated film "Live from Baghdad" and for "Indictment: The McMartin Trial", both of which won the Emmy for made for TV Movie, and the latter of which won the Golden Globe for best movie or miniseries. He also won a Humanitas Prize for his work on "Tuesdays with Morrie" and directed the Emmy-nominated "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" . His feature credits include "The Bodyguard," "L.A. Story," "Volcano," "Chattahoochee," and "Clean Slate".
For his directing and producing work at the BBC and Channel 4 Television in London, he was honored with over twenty major national and international awards, including three BAFTA Awards for the films "Threads" and "Race for the Double Helix" and for the mini-series "A Very British Coup" which also went on to win the International Emmy for Drama.
His latest directing credit is HBO's soon-to-be-released drama "Temple Grandin", starring Claire Danes
Mick Jackson was educated in England at the Universities of Southampton and then Bristol, at which he was later appointed Emeritus Lecturer in Film at the Department of Drama.
Kelly Kahl
Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime
Kelly Kahl was named Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime in September 2004. He reports directly to Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation.
In this position, Kahl oversees the coordination of all CBS programming, with particular attention to how all parts of the entire CBS business unit interact to serve the audience and maximize business opportunities. He continues to have primary responsibility for program planning and scheduling of CBS while taking on the added responsibilities of supervising coordination between CBS programming divisions and the network’s respective operations in sales, marketing, affiliate relations, research and with the CBS Television Station Group. Kahl’s responsibilities also include oversight of scheduling for the CW Network, a joint venture of CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Kahl had been Executive Vice President, Program Planning and Scheduling, CBS since June 2001, overseeing all scheduling of primetime series, specials, television movies and mini-series for both CBS and UPN.
Kahl played an instrumental role in the strategic move of SURVIVOR and CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION to Thursdays, which instantly made CBS a competitive force on the night. With the addition of WITHOUT A TRACE in the 2002-2003 season, CBS won Thursdays and broke NBC's 18-year stranglehold on the night.
Kahl, who had been Senior Vice President, Program Planning and Scheduling since August 1998, joined CBS in January 1996 as Vice President, Scheduling, CBS Entertainment, following three years as Director, Network Research at Warner Bros. Television. In that position, he was responsible for the day-to-day research operations of the studio and the analysis of its unprecedented roster of series including “Murphy Brown,” “ER,” “Friends,” “The Drew Carey Show” and “Living Single,” among others.
Kahl joined Lorimar Television in 1990 (before Lorimar and Warner Bros. Television combined operations) as a research intern and quickly rose through the ranks as Research Analyst and then Manager, before assuming responsibility for the research department in 1993.
During his tenure, Kahl was particularly instrumental in the selling and launching of such hits as “ER,” “Friends” and “Living Single.” He also developed and implemented the industry’s first in-house testing facility that, under his direction, was crucial to the studio’s success during the 1995-96 season, when it placed a record 20 series on fall schedules.
Kahl is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison (B.A., communications, 1989) and the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications (M.A., communications management, 1991).
Greg Kampanis
Senior Vice President, Content and Operations
South Park Digital Studios
Greg Kampanis is Senior Vice President, Content and Operations for South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture between MTV Networks and Matt Stone & Trey Parker the creators of the hit television show South Park. In his role Greg oversees the business operations and strategy for South Parks global digital business, including websites in eight countries, video gaming, digital applications and goods, as well as new adult animation projects. SouthParkStudios.com has become one of the leading television show websites with more than 35MM videos streamed each month and user visits averaging nearly 40 minutes.
Greg joined South Park in 2009 after playing an instrumental role in the establishment and launch of the South Park Digital Studios joint venture while working as Vice President, Strategy & Business Development for the MTV Networks Entertainment Group. In his role, Greg led strategy and new business development efforts for the Entertainment Group’s cable television networks (Comedy Central, Spike & TV Land) and the group’s digital properties (Atom and Gametrailers). His responsibilities included refining the Group’s long range plans and digital strategies, identifying and developing new revenue opportunities and building relationships with key strategic partners in technology, digital and traditional media. In addition, Greg was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Entertainment Group’s download-to-own and syndication businesses.
Prior to MTV Networks, Greg spent more than four years at Comcast’s E! Entertainment Television and Style Network as Manager and then Director of Business Development. Greg was responsible for the development and execution of strategies to extend the network’s brands and drive new revenue growth through strategic alliances, partnerships, acquisitions and new ventures. He was particularly focused on E!’s off-channel businesses including wireless, digital media, home video, radio, syndication and licensing. Before entering the cable industry, Greg spent 3 years with internet consultancy, Proxicom, and before that was a management consultant.
Greg holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Paul Karasick
Editor
I.A.T.S.E. Local 700
Paul Karasick has over 16 years of experience in television and films, editing a broad range of drama, action, adventure, comedy and science fiction. His recent television experience includes editing several pilots that each got picked up for at least one successful season. These shows are: Eastwick (ABC), The Mentalist (CBS), Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX). Traveler (ABC), Supernatural (WB), Jack & Bobby (WB), In 2008, he received an Emmy nomination for the pilot of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Additional TV series work includes Once and Again (ABC), Everwood (WB), Greek (ABC Family), and Life On Mars (ABC). Paul has edited three films, The Man Who Knew Too Little starring Bill Murray, I Love You I Love You Not starring Jude Law and Claire Danes, and Simply Irresistible starring Sara Michelle Gellar.
Paul earned a BA in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego. When not at the office he can be found on his mountain bike or ski’s, depending on the season.
Matt Kunitz
Executive Producer
Matt Kunitz currently holds a production deal with reality powerhouse Endemol USA, which produces hits including “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Deal or No Deal,” “Big Brother,” “Fear Factor,” and “Wipeout.”
In 2008 Kunitz created “Wipeout” for ABC. “Wipeout,” now in production in its third season, continues to break rating records in the US and around the world where it is now produced for 25 different countries. In 2009 “Wipeout” was nominated for a prestigious Rose d'Or award. In addition to his duties on “Wipeout,” Kunitz recently served as a consultant on “Estate of Panic” for Syfy and “The Whole 19 Yards” for CBS.
Endemol and Kunitz have a long history; studio produced “Fear Factor” for NBC, and Kunitz was the executive producer. During his six-year overall deal at NBC Universal Studios, Matt Kunitz became one of television’s hottest producers of reality programming. “Fear Factor” became a staple on the NBC schedule for 145 episodes. The series set audience records and broke near-decade-old network ones while reaching as high as 19 million viewers.
Kunitz was the driving force behind all six seasons of Fear Factor. Also at NBC, Kunitz served as the executive producer of “Dog Eat Dog” and “Late Friday,” and as a consultant on “Lost” and “Treasure Hunters.”
A native of San Diego, Kunitz graduated from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television in 1990 before beginning his career working on several network shows. His various production credits include “Unsolved Mysteries,” the TV movie “Lady Against the Odds,” the Pierce Brosnan pilot “Running Wilde,” George Foreman's sitcom, “George” and the NBC movie “Class Reunion.”
In 1993, Kunitz joined MTV’s “The Real World” for the show's second season and quickly rose through the program's production ranks to become the show runner. He was involved during five years of the show, and his creative contributions to the pop-culture fixture gave it a unique imprint that targeted the 12-34 year-old age demographic as the series' ratings climbed yearly. His additional credits for MTV include the special “The Real World Reunion” and the series “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.”
Robyn Lattaker-Johnson
Executive Producer
Robyn Lattaker-Johnson has over 15 years experience in entertainment spanning programming, development, and production.
Most recently Lattaker-Johnson produced 60 episodes of the stand-up comedy series, COMIC VIEW:ONE MIC STAND, in which her role was integral at all levels of production and creatively supervising the post/editorial process. Prior to her work as an independent producer, Lattaker-Johnson served as the Senior Vice President of Development and Current Production for Original Programming at BET Networks. In her four years at the network, Robyn Lattaker-Johnson was directly responsible for developing original non-fiction and reality-based series. She spearheaded the development of BET's most successful and acclaimed original series, including KEYSHIA COLE: THE WAY IT IS, AMERICAN GANGSTER, BALDWIN HILLS, HELL DATE, SUNDAY BEST, EXALTED, LIL KIM: COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN, COLLEGE HILL (seasons 3, 4, 5, and the spin-off INTERNS), SEASON OF THE TIGER, THE ULTIMATE HUSTLER, DMX: SOUL OF A MAN, BALLERS, and S.O.B. – SOCIALLY OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOR, to name just a few. In sum while with BET, Lattaker-Johnson oversaw the launches of over 35 original series and numerous specials and was a critical component of the executive team responsible for consistently breaking ratings records for premieres, finales, and overall series numbers.
Prior to her arrival at BET, Lattaker-Johnson was the Director of Development for Alternative Programming and Production at Sci Fi Channel (now Syfy). In that role, she was directly responsible for developing original alternative series and other forms of non-fiction/unscripted programming, including SCARE TACTICS, MAD MAD HOUSE and GHOST HUNTERS.
Before joining Sci Fi Channel, Lattaker-Johnson worked in the world of TV, film, music video, and commercial production. She began as a producer/director's assistant on such films as Trimark’s SPRUNG for Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott, and rose through the ranks from film production assistant to associate producer. Lattaker-Johnson spent the bulk of her production career as a line producer/production manager on feature films where she was responsible for all aspects of the film-making process including the day-to-day operations of the set, the financial and budget management, hiring crew, managing union regulations, overseeing talent negotiations, and generally bringing the creative concepts to life. Some of Lattaker-Johnson's film credits include NO TURNING BACK, VERY MEAN MEN, DUTY DATING, TEQUILA BODY SHOTS, and MY BROTHER JACK.
Lattaker-Johnson holds a Master's Degree in Film from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and earned her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.
Michael Lawshe
Supervising Sound Editor
Shows in progress: Smallville and Supernatural
Warner Brothers Studios
Michael E. Lawshé grew up in Los Angeles recording all sorts of things into small cassette and reel to reel tape recorders. While in UCLA’s Theatre Department, he found himself designing and editing the sound and doing re-recording in the Film and Television Departments graduate thesis programs for both UCLA and USC. He received his Degree in Technical Theatre from UCLA in 1983.
After working around Southern California in small theatres, and teaching High School for a couple of years, he started as a Sound Effects Editor, and became a Sound Supervisor and Mixer for an independent company in Hollywood. A few years later, he began editing at the old MGM/Lorimar [what is now Sony] studios in Culver City where he became a Sound Supervisor overseeing the audio through the final mix.
He moved to Warner Bros. to help restart their Sound Department in 1993.
Michael has received 16 Motion Picture Sound Editing Peer award nominations for Outstanding Sound editing and has won one of these “Golden Reel” awards for “The Fugitive” TV series.
He has had 9 Emmy nominations and has won three times for “Smallville” which currently airs with his other show, “Supernatural” on the CW network.
Michael and his wife, Keri Dearborn are “rockhounds” and amateur paleontology enthusiasts. They have traveled to around the American West and Canada to excavate dinosaur bones and other fossils. They have also journeyed to Hawaii, Curacao, Southern Australia, Turkey and, last year to Mongolia experiencing Total solar eclipses.
Elan Lee
Founder/Chief Designer at Fourth Wall Studios
Elan Lee believes that if you’re bored, you’re doing something wrong. A self-identified entertainment-addict, Elan has spent his career finding and sharing ways to extract adventure from the world around us.
From surfing down the flooded streets of LA to broadcasting a radio drama over thousands of ringing payphones, Elan has pioneered breakthroughs in the area of entertainment and immersive gaming.
Elan started his career at the Microsoft Game Studio where he was a Lead Designer for the X-BOX launch portfolio. Next, he co-founded and served as the Vice President of Design for 42 Entertainment (the company behind I Love Bees, The Vanishing Point, Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero, and The Dark Knight.) He was also the Co-Founder of EDOC Laundry, and most recently the Co-Founder and Chief Designer at Fourth Wall Studios.
Elan has spoken all over the world on the future of gaming, and is considered among the foremost Alternate Reality Game creators in the world. He has been featured in WIRED magazine, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and the Wall Street Journal. He has won awards for best web game of the year, best advertising campaign of the year, and best idea of the year. Also, his mom claims he’s a very nice boy.
Paul Lister
Executive Producer
Paul Lister is an independent producer.
Most recently Paul produced the independent movie THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, directed by Grant Heslov, starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor.
Paul joined Dreamworks in 1995 as one of the new studio's first executive hires. While there he was responsible for the development and production of many of the new studio's movies, most notably Gladiator in 2000 which was nominated for 12 Oscars, and was winner of the Best Picture Oscar for that year.
Amongst the directors he worked with at Dreamworks were Ridley Scott (Gladiator), Neil Jordan (In Dreams, starring Annette Benning) Jan De Bont (The Haunting, starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson, Liam Neeson), Robert Redford (The Legend of Bagger Vance starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron), Rod Lurie (The Contender and The Last Castle, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini and Mark Rufalo).
Before joining Dreamworks Paul was an independent producer in London. He produced Vroom for Channel 4, directed by Beeban Kidron, starring Clive Owen and David Thewlis and Arise and Go Now for the BBC, a black comedy set in Northern Ireland, directed by Danny Boyle.
Kari Lizer
Creator/Executive Producer
Kari Lizer is the creator and executive producer of the hit comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine.
Lizer served as co-executive producer and writer of the long-running hit comedy Will & Grace, for which she shared four Emmy® Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Lizer also executive produced and created Maggie Winters, co-produced and wrote For Your Love, was a consulting producer and writer for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, wrote for Boston Common and was a story editor and writer on the series adaptation of Weird Science.
Prior to writing for television, Lizer was a professional actor, appearing in the feature films Gotcha! and Private School, among others. On television, she was a series regular on the long-running series Matlock, and she starred in The Van Dyke Show. Her credits also include the HBO original movie Breast Men and guest-starring roles on Murphy Brown, Empty Nest, Weird Science and Will & Grace, among many others.
Lizer lives in Los Angeles with her three children. The New Adventures of Old Christine is inspired, in part, by her life as a single, working mother.
Fran Lucci
VP, Marketing
For 15 years Fran Lucci worked as a Production Accountant on features films and television movies for studios such as Sony, 20th Century Fox, Disney, CBS and ABC. She also worked on staff at both Warner Bros Features and 20th Century Fox Features where she oversaw production finance and feature estimating. In 1999, she became a Production Executive at Atlantic Streamline Film Productions and was also the Executive Producer of the independent feature film Igby Goes Down. In 2004, Fran began a career in Marketing at Entertainment Partners, where she is currently Director of Products and Services. Fran currently oversees the business development of EP Budgeting where she works as a client advocate turning user requests into product features.
Bill BcGoldrick
Senior Vice President, Original Scripted Porgramming
Bill McGoldrick is senior vice president of Original Scripted Programming at USA Network. As senior vice president, he will oversee all USA scripted development, reporting to Jeff Wachtel, president, USA Original Programming and co-head of original content, Universal Cable Productions.
McGoldrick originally joined USA Network in 1998 as an executive assistant. As an executive in series development, he worked on various prime-time dramas and comedies for both USA and SCI FI, including THE INVISIBLE MAN, GOOD VS. EVIL, and MONK. In 2003, he was named vice president, series development, in which capacity he worked on such shows as PSYCH and THE 4400. In 2005, he joined Spike Television as vice president, original series programming, overseeing the launch of the channel’s first drama, KILL POINT and BLADE. He was named senior vice president in 2007, and oversaw development of the network’s first comedies FACTORY, BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE, and PLAYERS HUT.
McGoldrick graduated with a BS from the University of Southern California..
Mitch Metcalf
Executive Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling
NBC Entertainment
Mitch Metcalf was named Executive Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling, NBC Entertainment, in September 2005. He is responsible for overseeing long-range program planning and scheduling for the NBC Television Network. Metcalf reports to Marc Graboff, Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.
In addition, Metcalf's duties include coordinating closely on the network's cross-platform opportunities with Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment.
Prior to his current appointment, Metcalf had served as Senior Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling, NBC Entertainment, since November 2000. Earlier, he had been Senior Vice President, Program Research, NBC West Coast, since September 1999, where he supervised the company's Burbank-based program research department. Metcalf was responsible for overseeing primary research for NBC Entertainment programming in all dayparts, including primetime, late night, daytime and Saturday morning.
Metcalf joined NBC following a nine-year career at ABC, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Research, ABC Television Network. In this position, he oversaw the network's New York and Los Angeles research operations.
While at ABC, Metcalf was responsible for providing senior management with attitudinal research analysis of new series pilots, current series, newsmagazines and longform programming. He was also responsible for analyzing box-office grosses for feature films that were being considered for eventual network broadcast.
Before joining ABC, he spent two years as a project director for Research Communications in Boston, where he managed news programming research projects for network and local television news clients in markets across the country.
Metcalf began his career in 1987 as a research associate for Frank N. Magid Associates in Marion, Iowa, where his clients included local television news departments.
Metcalf graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in politics from Princeton University. He lives in Sherman Oaks, California.
Christopher Monger
Writer
Christopher Monger (writer) has written, directed and edited for films and television. He wrote and directed the films "Chica de Rio," for which he won the Discovery Award at the Hollywood Film Festival; "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain," which won the Ecumenical Jury Award at the Moscow International Film Festival; "Waiting for the Light", "Crime Pays" and "Voice Over." He directed and edited the documentary "Special Thanks to Roy London," and directed the film "Just Like a Woman"; episodes of the television series, "That's Life" and the video "A Sense of Wonder." He shared a TV and Cable Program Christopher Award with the other filmmakers of "Seeing Red," for which he wrote the screenplay. He is slated to direct his next feature from his script "The Amateur Photographer" in Spring 2010, produced by Ted Hope, Anne Carey & Karen Montgomery.
Ginny Nugent
Vice President, Production, HBO Films
Ginny Nugent is Vice President, Production, HBO Films, for Home Box Office, responsible for supervising the schedules and budgets of original films and miniseries under the HBO Films banner. She was named to this position in March 2000.
Nugent is currently is working on The Special Relationship and You Don’t know Jack.
Among the other HBO Films productions she has worked on since joining HBO are Boycott, Stranger Inside, Dinner with Friends, Hysterical Blindness, My House in Umbria, Normal, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Dirty War, Mrs. Harris, PU-239, Bernard and Doris, Into the Storm, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Taking Chance, A Number, Grey Gardens, My Zinc Bed, The Poliakoff Films, Temple Grandin, American Girl: Girl of the Year 2009, and the miniseries Elizabeth I and Five Days. She also worked on the theatrical releases American Splendor, Real Women Have Curves, Maria Full of Grace, Idlewild, Rocket Science and Kit Kittredge: American Girl.
Prior to joining HBO, Nugent was a producer on various studio and network films including the Golden Globe® nominated Anywhere But Here starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman (executive producer, 1999); BAFTA Children’s Award-winner Paulie with Gena Rowlands and Tony Shalhoub (executive producer, 1998); Hush featuring Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow (co-producer, 1998); The Craft with Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell (executive producer, 1996); the Emmy® winning Cast a Deadly Spell featuring Fred Ward and Julianne Moore (line producer, 1991); the Emmy®-nominated Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe starring Lily Tomlin (line producer, 1991); Tremors with Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward (line producer, 1990); Bad Dreams with Jennifer Rubin (associate producer, 1988); and Two Idiots in Hollywood featuring Jim McGrath and Jeff Doucette (associate producer, 1987).
She began her career as an assistant to veteran director/producer/writer Roger Corman (Little Shop of Horrors) at New World Pictures, working with him from 1982 to 1987.
Nugent holds a BA degree in Communications from Stanford University.
Alan Perris
Chrief Operating Officer
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation
Alan Perris joined the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in April 2006. As the Television Academy’s top-ranking staff member, Perris oversees the day-to-day activities of the Academy and Foundation and supervises the staff, including the executives in charge of all key departments.
Perris reports to Television Academy chairman John Shaffner, the Academy’s Executive Committee and, on matters relating to the Academy Foundation, to chairman of the board Jerry Petry and the Foundation Board of Directors. Perris has more than thirty years of experience in the television industry. Before joining the Academy staff, he served as executive vice president of business development at Entertainment Media Works, an internet company. Previously, he was senior vice president of First Run Programming at both Sony and Telepictures (Warner Bros.). He served as president at two station group production companies, Scripps-Howard and Post-Newsweek.
Perris also previously served as senior vice president of programming of the Hallmark Channel cable network and prior to that, he was the president and general manager of local television stations in Jacksonville (WJXT-CBS) and Miami (WPLG-ABC, and later WTVJ-CBS). He is credited with developing shows such as The Ricki Lake Show, Dragon Tales, Judge Mathis and Street Smarts.
Jerry Petry
Executive Vice President, Administration
NBC Universal Television, West Coast
Jerry Petry is a media veteran with over 30 years of experience. His current position is Executive Vice President, Administration, NBC Universal Television, West Coast, an appointment made in April, 2006.
After four years as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy, Petry joined NBC in 1976 and spent the first 12 years of his career in a variety of finance and business affairs posts at the network and local station KNBC in Los Angeles. In 1988, he joined NBC Productions in a key management position and was instrumental in the group’s extraordinary growth as it began to supply NBC with all of its late night and a significant portion of its prime time and daytime programs. In 1992, Petry was named Senior Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, NBC West Coast. In this position, he managed all financial, production, business operations, strategic planning and business development functions for all West Coast businesses. In 1997, Petry was promoted to Executive Vice President, NBC Enterprises where he developed the company’s television distribution business and created the groups responsible for strategic marketing and exploitation of NBC owned content in home video, merchandising, licensing, music and publishing, and also created an international format sales and production business. In 2004, when NBC acquired Vivendi Universal Entertainment, Petry led a due diligence team and, subsequently, the integration of the TV Group for the newly formed NBC Universal. He is also NBC Universal's representative on the board of QUBO Ventures, LLC, a multi-platform television network for children that champions literacy and values, and on the board of Miss Universe, LLC.
Petry is Chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation Board of Directors and also serves as a Director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
A native of Long Island, N.Y., Petry earned a B.S. in business administration at Villanova University, where he is currently on the School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. He earned an M.S. in finance at California State University, Northridge, where he is also a part-time faculty member.
Clyde Phillips
Executive producer and Showrunner
Dexter
Clyde Phillips is an executive producer and the showrunner on Showtime’s hit series Dexter. He’s won a Peabody Award and the AFI award for outstanding series - and has twice been nominated for an Emmy, the Golden Globe, the PGA award, the Writer’s Guild Award – among many others. Phillips also created Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Suddenly Susan, and Get Real. He’s executive produced and written several other series. Additionally, he’s produced a number of television movies. A national bestselling mystery novelist, Phillips’s fourth book, ‘Unthinkable’, is due early next year.
David Pierce, Esq.
Pierce Law Group LLP
David Albert Pierce is Managing Member of PIERCE LAW GROUP LLP a boutique law firm practicing exclusively in all aspects of entertainment law. David predominately represents independent film and television production companies. His company clients include, among others: Lions Gate Films, Lions Gate Television, Starz!/Encore, Cartoon Network, Film Roman, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, Worldrace Productions (producers of “Amazing Race”), and View Films (producers of “Taxicab Confessions”).
David is a frequent lecturer on the legal issues confronting the entertainment industry. For the past eleven years, he has served as an adjunct professor at UCLA Extension for the course entitled “Organizing, Financing and Running A Start-Up Entertainment Production Company.” He is also a regular columnist for MovieMaker Magazine and is the author of several entertainment law articles.
David is admitted to the State Bar of California. He is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment Law Section, the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries, and the American Film Institute.
David earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Cornell Law School with a concentration in Business Law & Regulation. While at Cornell, he was an editor of the Cornell Law and Public Policy Journal and a member of the Entertainment & Sports Law Association. He earned his undergraduate degree with honors from Binghamton University, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Business. David is originally from Niagara Falls, New York.
Noah Pollack
Senior Director, Development and Production
Vh1
Noah Pollack is Vh1's Senior Director, Development and Production, where he currently serves as the network's Executive Producer for Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House, Tough Love, The T.O. Show, The OCD Project (premieres 2010) and The Secrets of Aspen (premieres 2010). Prior to joining Vh1, Noah held a variety of production and development roles for USA Network, Bunim/Murray Productions and Renegade 83 Entertainment, working on series such as The Real World, The Simple Life and Road Rules. Noah graduated with a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley and is a proud husband and father.
Shonda Rhimes
Creator and Executive Producer of ABC Television Network’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice”
Shonda Rhimes is the creator of the hit ABC series “Grey’s Anatomy,” which chronicles the personal and professional lives of surgical residents in Seattle, and “Private Practice,” which follows Addison Montgomery as she begins a new life in Los Angeles working with her friends at Oceanside Wellness Group.
Entering its sixth season, “Grey’s Anatomy” continues to be hailed by audiences and critics alike. For her work on the series, Rhimes received the 2007 Television Producer of the Year by the Producers Guild of America, the 2007 Golden Globe for Outstanding Television Drama, the 2007 Lucy Award for Excellence in Television from Women in Film, the 2009, 2008, and 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series, the 2006 Writers Guild Award for Best New Series, in addition to Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Writing for a Drama Series.
Aside from her success with network television, Rhimes wrote the feature film “Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement,” released in August 2004 by Disney. Additionally, her original script, “Crossroads,” was released in 2002 by Paramount. She also co-wrote “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” produced by HBO and nominated for numerous awards, and for which Halle Berry won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Best Actress in a miniseries for her portrayal of Dandridge.
Rhimes worked as research director on the Tollin-Robbins/Mundy Lane documentary “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream.” It was nominated for an Emmy Award and an Academy Award and won the Peabody Award, as well as the NAACP Image Award. She has been a guest speaker at the USC School of Cinema-Television, where she taught a course in scene writing.
Rhimes holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College in English Literature with Creative Writing. As director of Dartmouth’s Black Underground Theatre and Arts Association, her work earned her numerous awards for excellence. She received her M.F.A. from the U.S.C. School of Cinema-Television, where she was awarded the prestigious Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship.
The child of educators, Rhimes blames her parents for her rampant addiction to books. The youngest of six, she was born and raised outside of Chicago, IL, and now resides in Los Angeles.
Holly Schiffer Zucker
Vice President of Post Production
HBO Films & Miniseries
Vice president of post production at HBO Films & Miniseries, where she oversees post production on several mini-series (Generation Kill, John Adams, Tsunami, Angels in America) and films (Temple Grandin, Starter for 10, Lackawana Blues, Iron Jawed Angels, Elephant, Yesterday, Last Days, Normal, The Gathering Storm, Wit) each year.
Currently she is working on the HBO pilot Game Of Thrones.
Prior to her time at HBO, Holly Schiffer Zucker worked in post production on the feature films Mighty Joe Young, Inspector Gadget, and X-Men as well as Steven Spielberg’s television show, High Incident. She received her B.A. from Bennington College and her M.F.A. from the Peter Stark Program at USC.
Thom Sherman
Vice-President, Drama Series Development
The CW Television Network
Thom Sherman is Executive Vice-President, Drama Series Development for The CW Television Network where he is responsible for the development and oversight of all new primetime dramatic programming. In his tenure at The CW, Mr. Sherman has developed and supervised such buzz-worthy series as Gossip Girl, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, and Reaper.
Mr. Sherman was born in Chicago, Illinois and was raised in Del Mar, California. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of California at San Diego.
From 2004-2006, Mr. Sherman was President of J.J. Abrams’ entertainment company, Bad Robot Productions, where he developed and executive produced several pilots and series, including What About Brian and Six Degrees. In his role as President, Mr. Sherman also oversaw the first two seasons of the Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winning Lost and the last two seasons of the cult favorite and critically acclaimed Alias.
From 1996-2004, Mr. Sherman worked in drama series development at the ABC Television Network, the last five years of which he was department head with the title Senior Vice-President. While at ABC, Mr. Sherman was responsible for the development and/or oversight of over three-dozen primetime dramatic series including Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Alias, NYPD Blue, The Practice, and Once & Again.
Mr. Sherman lives in Encino, California with his wife, Denise, their son, Owen, and their daughters, Gemma and Ruby.
Jennifer Sherwood
Vice President, HBO Films
Jennifer Sherwood is Vice President, HBO Films, responsible for overseeing the development and production of original movies for the premium channel. She was named to this position in February 2005.
Sherwood recently worked on Emmy® nominated Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon, based on the true story of Lt. Colonel Michael’s Strobl’s account of his journey as a volunteer military escort. The project was the highest rated film in 5 years for the channel and, according to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, influenced policy change regarding journalists taking photographs of returning casualties of war.
She is currently supervising the highly anticipated HBO Film, Temple Grandin directed by Mick Jackson, starring Claire Danes as well as You Don’t Know Jack , a film exploring the exploits of Jack Kevorkian, directed by Barry Levinson, starring Al Pacino and the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s play, The Sunset Limited directed by Tommy Lee Jones, starring Mr. Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Among her numerous award-winning projects are Golden Globe® winners The Life and Times of Peter Sellers and Hysterical Blindness; Emmy® winners Recount, Normal, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, Wit, and *61 as well as highly acclaimed The Laramie Project.
Sherwood joined HBO as Director, HBO Films, in 1999 but left in 2002 to pursue a life-long dream of traveling through Asia and Africa, combining adventure with volunteer work for filmmaker Mira Nair’s organization in India. She rejoined HBO in 2005.
Prior to HBO, Sherwood lived in New York City and worked at Miramax/Dimension Films as Director, Development and Production, from 1996 to 1999, and Story Editor from 1994 to 1996. She has a BFA from New York University and originally hails from Kansas City, Missouri.
Michael Sluchan
Vice President, Original Scripted Series Programming
USA Network
Michael Sluchan is Vice President, Original Scripted Series Programming at USA Network. He oversaw current production of the award-winning hit series MONK starring Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, now airing its eighth and final season. He developed and oversees current production on USA’s recent series ROYAL PAINS, starring Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo with Christine Ebersole and Campbell Scott. The series launched in June and is the #1 new show on cable in 2009. He serves as the current executive on IN PLAIN SIGHT with Mary McCormack and worked on the acclaimed series THE STARTER WIFE with Debra Messing and Judy Davis and THE DEAD ZONE starring Anthony Michael Hall. He also develops scripts for potential new series for the network.
Sluchan joined USA in October 1999 as a creative executive in longform programming. During his tenure, he developed and oversaw production of many projects, including “Dominick Dunne Presents: Murder In Greenwich,” “Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story,” “Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss” and the four-hour miniseries “Spartacus.” In 2005, he moved to the original series department.
Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania.
Peter Smokler
Director of Photography
Peter Smokler is a Director of Photography currently working in the television industry. He has worked on a wide variety of projects. He photographed the cult hit “This is Spinal Tap” and won an Emmy for the Aaron Sorkin penned “Sportsnight”. He also photographed the highly acclaimed HBO Series, “The Larry Sanders Show.” Mr. Smokler was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Oakland University. While on a study semester in Hong Kong he bought a duty free still camera, found his muse, decided to become a photographer, and never returned to any previous ambitions. He met a filmmaker there as well, and while visiting him in L.A. after graduation, was asked to be an assistant cameraman on a spec feature; that was in 1968. Persistence, lucky breaks and love of the work brought him to where he is today. He is currentl shooting pilots and is the DP on the FX series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” with Danny De Vito.
Rob Swartz
Vice President, Original Series
Cartoon Network
Rob Swartz is vice president of original series for Cartoon Network. Along with leading development and current teams, Swartz oversees development of all of Cartoon Network’s animated, live-action and alternative series. He is responsible for identifying new creative talent to develop for Cartoon Network and Cartoon Network Studios.
Previously, Swartz was vice president of alternative programming for the Sci-Fi Channel, where he was responsible for the development and production of reality, game/competition, late night and other alternative programming. He also developed and launched Destination Truth, the network’s highly rated new reality series and was responsible for overseeing the very successful Ghost Hunter franchise. Swartz worked on content development for Sci-Fi’s broadband video network Pulse and has held prior positions at NBC Entertainment and Walt Disney/Touchstone Television.
Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in more than 91 million U.S. homes and 160 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service offering the best in original, acquired and classic animated entertainment for kids and families. Overnight from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animation for young adults 18-34.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
Bertram van Munster
Executive Producer, Director & Co-Creator The Amazing Race
Bertram van Munster has carved a very special place for himself in global television. He possesses a very imaginative and daring spirit for creating high quality, unique and even rarified cinema verite styled reality television, while at the same time maintaining a keen business sense of the worldwide entertainment industry. Again in 2009, Bertram, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI), his distinguished partner of eight years, earned his 7th consecutive top reality television Emmy Award (Outstanding Reality Competition Program for award years of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) for his CBS series The Amazing Race. His 7th win catapults his show into the ranks of such Emmy winners as The Daily Show, Frasier and The West Wing for multiple, consecutive Emmy wins.
His 15th season of The Amazing Race will debut on CBS in September 2009.
Bertram is the recipient of the 2007 Directors Guild of America award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs for The Amazing Race. Also, he and his partner, Co-Creator/Co-Executive Producer Elise Doganieri, won the much-coveted 2005 Producers Guild of America award for Non-Fiction Television for The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race won a Family Friendly Award in 2005. Bertram was also honored with nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs in 2008, 2006 and 2005 from the Directors Guild of America, in addition to receiving top award nominations from both the PGA and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD Award).
With his production company, Earthview, Bertram and Elise are the creators and producers of the more than one hundred eighty (180) one-hour editions of the award winning and media favored hit adventure/reality series The Amazing Race, which he produces with CBS Productions and Touchstone Television. The series premiered on CBS in the 2001-2002 television season. Additionally, foreign versions of The Amazing Race are produced in Asia, South America and Israel.
Bertram was Executive Producer and Director, partnered with Oprah Winfrey and her Harpo Productions’ in the 2008 ABC reality series, Oprah’s Big Give.
He also served as Executive Producer with Thom Beers for Original Productions and Discovery Channel’s reality series Raw Nature, a wildlife natural history series.
In early 2003, Bertram created and was Executive Producer of the critically- acclaimed ABC reality series, Profiles from the Front Line, which put a human face on the war on terrorism by profiling the incredibly brave men and women in the armed forces engaged in battling the enemy. Bertram brought this compelling and powerful series to television, filming in the most perilous battle-torn regions of Afghanistan, oftentimes barely escaping serious personal injury or even death.
Bertram is the Creator and Executive Producer of Wild Things – the hit syndicated adventure series from Paramount Domestic Television, which premiered in 1997 and ran for three consecutive championship seasons. In order to create some 80 hours of Wild Things, Bertram and his crews traversed some of the world’s most inaccessible and inhospitable regions -- from Africa to Alaska -- in search of compelling, reality-style stories.
Prior to his association with Paramount, Bertram most notably served as Producer on more than 200 half-hour episodes and three one-hour specials of Fox Broadcasting’s long-running prime time series, Cops. During Bertram’s tenure, the Fox series received four Emmy Award nominations and was honored with a Television Critics Award. He also served as a Consultant on a special Fox sweeps edition of X-Files meets Cops.
Earlier, Bertram, a much sought after director-cinematographer, helmed more than 2000 high-end television commercials.
Earthview maintains satellite offices throughout the globe, including Singapore, Buenos Aires, Argentina and New Delhi, India.
Bertram makes his home in Los Angeles.
Pam Veasey
Executive Producer/Showrunner – CSI: NY
Pam Veasey has worked in the entertainment industry for the past 20 years as a writer, producer and director and is one of the few women to have held the title of Executive Producer/Show Runner in sketch comedy, half-hour comedy and drama.
She has enjoyed a successful television writing career working on such shows as “The Gregory Hines Show”, Showtime’s, “Rude Awakening”, “The District” and Fox’s “In Living Color,” for which she received two Emmy nominations for writing. Currently Pam is the Executive Producer of CBS’ “CSI:NY”.
A true Sports fan, Pam spends her spare time participating in the office football pool and her weekends with her husband, Marvin Williams, an assistant football coach at Pomona Pitzer College and her two sons Mason, 12, and Avery, 11, who are avid athletes.
Pam is a graduate of the University of Southern California with degrees in Journalism and Political Science.
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