NATPE - National Association of Television Program Executives

NATPE’s One-on-One Interviews with Industry Innovators

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:56:13 +0100

Among the many stimulating and thought-provoking sessions during the upcoming NATPE Market & Conference, the most popular are those that delve into the business philosophies and strategies as well as experiences and insights of the industry’s most successful executives. This year, in addition to Tuesday’s keynote address from Lionsgate co-chairman Jon Feltheimer, NATPE has secured the participation of TiVO CEO Tom Rogers; producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, co-owners of BermanBraun; Twentieth Century Fox Television co-chairs Dana Walden and Gary Newman; and Google’s director of TV ads Michael Steib.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the Hollywood Reporter’s editor-in-chief Elizabeth Guider engages In Conversation with BermanBraun co-owners Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Discussing the role of content suppliers in the digital world, Berman, former president of Paramount Pictures and Fox Television, and Braun, former chairman of ABC Entertainment group, are credited with developing such hit shows as American Idol, 24, House, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy.

Gail Berman, the first and only female executive to hold the top posts at both a major film studio and television network, became president of Paramount Pictures in 2005 and was responsible for the studio’s annual slate of films, including the acquisition of literary properties, development, budgeting, casting, and the production of motion pictures for Paramount Pictures, MTV Films and Nick Movies.

Before joining Paramount, Berman served from 2000 to 2005 as president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company, where she was the first-ever series producer to hold the top Fox programming post. Taking the network to the #1 slot, Berman was in charge of all program development and scheduling, as well as marketing, business affairs and promotions.

Prior to her Fox presidency, Berman served more than two years as founding president of Regency Television, the TV studio created in 1998 as a co-venture between Fox Television Studios and New Regency Productions. Under Berman, Regency Television quickly grew into one of the most prolific and respected suppliers of TV entertainment programming, including the primetime hit Malcolm in the Middle, which she developed for Fox. Berman also served as executive producer on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel.

Before assuming the Regency presidency, Berman served as president and CEO of production company Sandollar Television. During her six years with Sandollar, she had both creative and bottom-line responsibility for all program development and production, and also served as executive producer on the primetime series All American Girl starring Margaret Cho and Someone Like Me with Gaby Hoffman, as well as the CableACE-Award-nominated special, HBO Presents Hazelle.

In February 2007, Berman co-founded BermanBraun, the Santa-Monica-based entertainment company specializing in television, digital media and feature films, with Lloyd Braun. BermanBraun has since entered into separate strategic alliances with NBC, Microsoft and Pepsi to create and distribute creative content for television and the Internet. BermanBraun’s first major digital offering will be a celebrity/pop culture destination for the MSN network to be launched in 2009.

Prior to BermanBraun, Lloyd Braun served as head of the Yahoo! Media Group (YMG) from November 2004 through December 2006. As head of YMG, Braun oversaw all creative and business aspects of Yahoo!’s media properties, including music, games, television, entertainment, sports, finance and news. During his tenure, Braun lead a massive redesign and rebuilding of Yahoo’s existing media properties, while launching several new media sites, including Yahoo Tech, Yahoo Food, The 9, Pepsi Smash, Live Sets and OMG!

Prior to joining Yahoo!, Braun served as chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company, a position he held from January 2002 until April 2004, after serving as co-chairman of the division starting in July 1999. In this position, Braun had responsibility for all creative, programming and business areas of the division, which encompassed Touchstone Television and ABC Entertainment. During his tenure with the ABC Entertainment Television Group, Braun initiated and oversaw the development of such successful programs as Alias, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Boston Legal. Braun also reorganized and helped build Touchstone Television into one of Hollywood’s top suppliers of series programming.

Braun also served as president of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, where he oversaw the company’s television, management and motion picture divisions, including the development of such successful programs as Just Shoot Me, Newsradio and The Sopranos.

Wednesday morning, SNL Kagan welcomes TiVo CEO and president Tom Rogers to the podium for the Newsmaker address. Making headlines for his comments on the serious commercial avoidance issue that is creating an overwhelming challenge to the television industry’s economic model, Rogers, who will be interviewed by New York Times media reporter Brooks Barnes, meets the TV advertising crisis head-on in this timely analysis that includes Rogers’ cutting-edge ideas for new advertising models.

Rogers was named president and CEO of TiVo in July 2005. Prior to taking on this role, Rogers served as vice chairman of the board of TiVo. Before that, Rogers was chairman of the board of Teleglobe International Holdings, Ltd., an international telecommuni-cations provider. He also served as the senior operating executive for media and entertainment for Cerberus Capital Management, a large private equity firm.

Previously, Rogers was chairman and CEO of Primedia, Inc., then the leading targeted media company in the United States. Primedia published some 200 magazines, operated more than 400 websites, and owned a wide range of television and video businesses. Prior to joining Primedia, Rogers was president of NBC Cable and EVP of NBC, as well as NBC’s chief strategist. Among his many accomplishments are the founding of CNBC, the nation’s leading business news channel, and the establishment of the NBC/Microsoft cable channel and Internet joint venture, MSNBC. In addition, he served as co-chairman of the Arts & Entertainment and History Channels, and was responsible for overseeing many other cable channels including Court TV, Bravo, American Movie Classics, Independent Film Channel, the National Geographic Channel and numerous regional sports channels.

Prior to NBC, Rogers was senior counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Telecommunications, Consumer Protection and Finance Subcommittee and was responsible for drafting a number of communications laws, including the Cable Act of 1984, as well as overseeing the FCC. Rogers began his career as an attorney with a Wall Street law firm.

Cynopsis Media will be sponsoring this year’s informal morning discussions known as Coffee With… First up on Wednesday, January 28, at 8:15 a.m. are Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-chairs of Twentieth Century Fox Television. The duo, who have led Twentieth to nearly a decade of success, will discuss their strategy for developing and producing blockbuster television programming as well as examine their approach to leveraging new technologies to extend the life and reach of hit franchises.

Dana Walden and Gary Newman, the successful team who had served as co-presidents of Twentieth Century Fox Television (TCFTV) for nearly a decade, were promoted to co-chairs of the studio in July 2007. Together, they have guided the company to unparalleled success across all media, from broadcast and cable television to syndication, mobile, broadband and beyond. Recognized as a creative haven to some of the most talented writers and producers working in television today, TCFTV is home to Seth MacFarlane, Shawn Ryan, Greg Garcia, Ryan Murphy, David E. Kelley, Howard Gordon and Joel Surnow and enjoys an exclusive relationship with Imagine Television.

In addition to its roster of acclaimed live action scripted comedies and dramas, TCFTV remains the undisputed industry leader in producing animated comedies for primetime, with five animated hits currently in production on new episodes. The studio’s series include: 24, Bones, Prison Break, The Simpsons, Family Guy, My Name Is Earl and How I Met your Mother, among others.

Newman and Walden also oversee the studio’s enormously successful worldwide licensing and merchandising division, which is charged with extending and exploiting the company’s vast array of entertainment properties including The Simpsons, Family Guy and 24 in categories such as publishing, videogames, promotions, e-commerce, retail, themed entertainment and consumer products. Moreover, the pair share oversight of licensing and merchandising efforts for the properties of Fox Film, Fox Sports, and a number of third-party products including the crown jewel property of Microsoft Game Studios, Halo.

In the fall of 2002, they pioneered the now-common industry practice of releasing television series on DVD immediately following each broadcast season, a revolutionary idea that helped propel the Fox drama 24 to blockbuster status in its second year on the air.

Newman and Walden have also been at the vanguard of developing new production models, creating fox21 in 2004, a production house devoted to empowering writers to produce their “passion projects” by rethinking conventional television production economics. They also launched the first studio mobile entertainment unit which originated the mobile phone series with 24: Conspiracy and has gone on to produce a wide range of innovative content based on the studio’s hit franchises for the worldwide wireless market.

Prior to being named president alongside Newman, Walden served as the studio’s EVP of drama, overseeing an award-winning slate of programming that consistently rated at the top of critic’s lists. She joined the studio’s creative department in 1994 as VP of current programming after holding the position of SVP, media and corporate relations for both Twentieth Television and TCFTV. She began her career at the public relations firm Bender, Goldman & Helper.

Newman served as the studio’s EVP and top-ranking business officer prior to being appointed president with Walden in 1999, and was instrumental in building TCFTV into an industry leader both domestically and abroad. Prior to his tenure at TCFTV, he served for six years as an executive in the business affairs department of NBC. Newman began his career as an attorney.

Thursday morning’s Coffee With… welcomes to NATPE Google’s director of TV ads Michael Steib. Steib heads a new division at Google that lets advertisers buy, schedule and deliver TV commercials through an online system. Before joining Google, he spent six years at NBC as part of a group that made more than $20 billion of acquisitions, including those of Telemundo, Bravo and Universal Studios. He also started NBBC, now known as hulu.com, and co-founded NBC Weather Plus.

In 2008, Steib was honored as one of Crain’s New York “40 Under 40” professionals. He was also recognized as one of TV Week’s “Twelve to Watch” in 2008, was selected for the Multichannel News “40 Under 40” list in 2007 and was chosen for TV Week’s “Hot List” in 2006.

NATPE's 6th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award Recipients

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:06:03 +0100

Each year as part of the NATPE Conference & Exhibition, the organization pays tribute to one of television’s greatest programmers, Brandon Tartikoff, with the presentation of the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award. Recognizing the enormous impact this one man had on the television industry, the award presented in his name acknowledges a select group of television professionals who share Tartikoff’s extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision in the process of creating television programming. This year’s recipients are writer/producer Chuck Lorre, writer/actor/producer/director Tyler Perry, NBC Universal’s Ben Silverman and Disney-ABC’s Anne Sweeney.

Chuck Lorre

A musician at heart, Chuck Lorre was, as he describes it, “unhealthfully enamored by Randy Newman songs, and the way he wrote lyrics and told stories.” Realizing that he was much more adroit at writing comedy then he was at playing in a rock ’n’ roll band, he says he has always believed that with comedy “you bring a little bit of rock ’n’ roll into television, a little bit of that abandon and energy and excitement, and that makes what you do all worthwhile.”

His passion for television comes from his relationship to the characters he creates. “Great television characters, for me anyway, you have to care about them, even if they’re the evil characters, you feel them. That’s part of the magic of the actor in playing the character that you watch and you root for. The other part of it is that laughter can be explosive. Boom! It erupts, it’s spontaneous, like a Pete Townsend power chord.”

Serving as writer, co-executive producer and supervising producer on Roseanne for two years, Lorre created his first sitcom, Grace Under Fire, for the ABC network in 1993. The series, the highest-rated new comedy of the 1993/94 season, starred comedian Brett Butler as a divorced single mother and recovering alcoholic. Produced by Carsey-Werner International, the show was nominated in 1995 for the Golden Globe Award for Best TV series (Musical or Comedy).

Lorre’s next project was the sitcom Cybill, which he also created, wrote and executive produced. The show starred Cybill Shepherd as an aging actress and divorced mother and aired for four seasons on CBS. A critical success, the show also won two Golden Globe Awards in 1996 for Best TV series (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress (Cybill Shepherd) in a TV series (Musical or Comedy).

All three shows – Roseanne, Grace Under Fire and Cybill – centered around strong female leads. When asked about his ability to develop and write dialogue for these female characters, Lorre explains: “When I was approached by Carsey-Werner to develop a show about a single mother, originally I didn’t know that I could do something like that. Then, when I did some research, I saw a heroic story about a woman raising a family on her own without a safety net; so there’s this Greek tragedy element to it. And then the other side of it was something I could identify with more personally, which is the story about a woman starting her life over after divorce. Starting over is something I understood. Grace was about starting over, Cybill was also about a character who is starting over – her career was winding down, marriages didn’t work, children were grown, now what? That “now what?” in the middle of your life was something I could feel internally and was something I could dig into. You don’t have to be the character, but you do have to be able to relate to them.”

Dharma & Greg, which Lorre created, wrote and executive produced from 1997 through 2002, was produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, More-Medavoy Productions and 4 to 6 Foot Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. It starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as a couple who marry instantly on their first date despite being complete opposites. The series was a top-20 fixture in the U.S. during its first three seasons.

In discussing the show, Lorre says: “Greg wanted so much to feel, to come up from this wrapped tight life that he lived that had all these boundaries and rules and this woman, Dharma, was a path to feeling, to getting in touch with some kind of life that he had been denied growing up. Dharma was a magical creature. We had been writing shows about women who were angry but then we tried writing a show about a woman who was entirely and unconditionally loving and supportive. It was like writing someone from Mars!”

Dharma & Greg also launched Lorre’s vanity cards, billboards at the end of the credits of the show that express his personal views and opinions or musings on a variety of subjects. These vanity cards are also seen at the end of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, and can also be viewed on Chuck Lorre Productions’ website. “At the beginning, unless you had a really good VCR, the cards were impossible to read, and really just looked like boilerplate,” says Lorre. “Then they started to appear on the Internet and TiVo came along and you could pause the screen and read it and that one second started to count. I started getting in trouble and censors got involved wanting me to change them or drop them entirely. Every two or three weeks I have one that they say I can’t air, so I put up a card that says CENSORED, and then people go read it on the website. I’m getting better and better at getting them censored!”

In 2003, Lorre struck gold again with Two and a Half Men, which premiered on CBS and soon became the anchor of its Monday night comedy lineup. Centering around a freewheeling bachelor, Charlie, whose carefree lifestyle is interrupted when his newly separated brother Alan moves in, along with his son, Jake, the series was co-created and is executive produced by Lorre and Lee Aronsohn.

The series, which has received multiple award nods, including 23 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations, debuted in local syndication in September 2007 and has consistently earned the #1 ranking among off-net syndicated shows. Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution also made history with the sale of the show’s cable rights to Fox’s FX cable network for an estimated $750,000 per episode, the second-richest deal in cable history. Two and a Half Men begins airing on FX in 2010.

When CBS was looking for complementary comedies for its Monday night comedy block in 2007, Lorre scored yet again with The Big Bang Theory, created and executive produced with Bill Prady for Warner Bros. Television. The show focuses on 20-something prodigies – a theoretical physicist and an experimental physicist who work at Caltech and live across the hall from a blonde waitress with show-biz aspirations. Their geekiness and intellect are contrasted to her social skills and common sense.

When asked if he had any advice for writers, Lorre says: “Write what you love. I think if you try to write what you think is hot or commercial, that’s a dead end. If I can wrap my heart around something, the end result is better and more gratifying, maybe not always successful, but I was proud of the end result. The goal is to get it on and keep it on, but god forbid you get something on that you don’t care about. Now you’re a slave to writing something you don’t feel strongly about and that’s hell. Start from some kind of compassionate place for the characters.”

Tyler Perry

From the onset of his career, Tyler Perry has done it all. A prolific writer, actor, producer, director and now head of his own studio, Perry’s own story is fodder for Hollywood moviemaking. Citing an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show as his inspiration to begin writing, Perry turned his childhood pain into the hit musical I Know I’ve Been Changed.

“I know people find it funny that a big black man is sitting around watching The Oprah Show, but yeah, I was watching Oprah. She said it was cathartic to write things down. That was back in the ’90s and that’s when I started writing. That’s what led me to where I am now,” explains Perry.

Bill Cosby, especially The Cosby Show, was another early influence. Says Perry, “I took all the bits I saw on The Cosby Show and the advice that Oprah gave and put it all together. Between the two of them, the example they provide and the way they modeled their lives, it inspired me.”

From there, Perry created his most indelible character, Madea, the star of his 2005 hit feature film Diary of a Mad Black Woman. He not only wrote and produced the film, he also starred as Madea. Simultaneous to the opening of Diary, Perry also mounted the successful stage production Madea Goes to Jail, which he also wrote, produced and scored. That was followed by a national tour of Meet the Browns. Between the two productions, Perry sold out more than 500 shows in theaters across the country.

Other Tyler Perry feature film releases include Madea’s Family Reunion, Daddy’s Little Girls, Why Did I Get Married, Meet the Browns and The Family That Preys. His theatrical productions include I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Madea’s Class Reunion, What’s Done in the Dark and The Marriage Counselor.

“I relied on my past, the things that I saw my mother go through, that was my inspiration for my women characters, what I watched my mother and my two sisters go through,” say Perry. “But as far as relationships go, I’ve seen enough people go through enough stuff that I don’t have to experience it myself to be able to write about it. I can look at those examples. But me and my dog are gonna be together for a long time.”

Perry has become a multi-hyphenate millionaire with a never-ending list of credits that encompass film, stage, television, and books. His first book, Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Life and Love, debuted at #1 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list and remained in the Top 10 for eight weeks.

Perry is enjoying the success of his first-run syndicated comedy series, House of Payne, which debuted on TBS in the fall of 2007 and will be joined by sitcom spin-off Meet the Browns in early 2009.

“I tried to explain my approach to people because it had never been done in television,” explains Perry. “The UPN and The WB merged and a lot of affiliates were left without programming. They wanted something and I had just finished the ten episodes of House of Payne so the timing was perfect. And then here comes TBS, just as crazy as I was, and they said ‘OK, we’ll take 100 episodes’ so it’s been a fantastic relationship with DebMar Mercury and William Morris and with TBS and I’m very excited that the show continues to do so well.”

Currently working on a one-hour scripted drama series, Perry offers a bit of advice for writers, saying: “To anyone who is creative or an artist, stay true to your gift. If you have something you know is natural and pure and you know is you, stay true to it no matter what anybody says, no matter how anybody tries to change it or taint it. Stay true. I’m sure a lot of executives are probably going ‘to hell with that, if you want to come over here, you’re going to change a couple things.’ But what I’ve found that is happening in Hollywood is that there are so many of the same type of things happening because the original creativity is being drowned. Television executives should encourage that kind of independent thinking because those are the people who know a lot about niche audiences and can really change everything. A lot of people are intimidated by the system, but there are other ways around the system. If they won’t let you in the door, cut a hole in the roof. If you can’t cut a hole in the roof, bust through the window. Ask questions. Ask why it has to be done that way and if no one has an answer, you’re on the right path.”

Ben Silverman

As co-chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, a position he was named to in May 2007, Ben Silverman works alongside co-chairman Marc Graboff to direct the efforts of NBC Universal’s television operations based in Burbank and Universal City, California.

Noting the similarities between his own meteoric rise to the top entertainment post at NBC to that of Brandon Tartikoff, Silverman says: “All of the people involved with the Tartikoff Legacy Award clearly have a dedication to television and a love of television that I too share. Brandon was a teacher and mentor of mine and someone I read about in New York magazine when I was 15 years old. Our shared love of programming comes through in the programming that we choose to make and how we approach broadcasting at NBC.”

Like Tartikoff, Silverman joined the network at a challenging time, notably when it was fourth among the big broadcast networks. But while Tartikoff was able to turn the network around with big hit shows like Hill Street Blues, Cheers, L.A. Law, Family Ties and others, Silverman has yet to find his breakout hit. “There’s no question that there are similarities between when I arrived at NBC to when Brandon arrived. It took him a number of years to start to shift the attention of the network from its placement to its elevation of its shows. We obviously have some unbelievable shows and have seen growth in those shows, but I think just as Brandon exercised patience with shows like Hill Street Blues and Cheers, on our own watch, patience has been shown to The Office and now 30 Rock. The difference is that you can’t catch that lightning in a bottle right out of the gate anymore. But there are still huge opportunities to continue to grow and find audience. There’s no question that the audience is consuming our content differently now, and technology impacts how our audience consumes our content, so we need to think about what defines a hit in a different way than just focusing on the rating of a premiere episode.”

Prior to joining NBC Universal, in 2002 Silverman launched Reveille, a leading independent production and distribution company focusing on exploiting worldwide intellectual property rights through scripted and alternative television formats. The company leverages its unique relationships with the world’s top broadcasters and producers to acquire, produce and distribute innovative entertainment programming across all television genres. Reveille has been a world leader in creating integrated marketing opportunities for leading advertisers and developing alternative financing paradigms for the television business.

Asked about the adjustments in moving from independent production to media conglomerate, Silverman explains: “Being independently minded within a big organization has its challenges, but it’s also incredibly rewarding and enriching. The opportunities for us at NBC Universal to define the future of media through the changes we implement and how we shift with the technology, which continues to impact how audiences consume our content – we’re continually evolving how we program that content, market that content and how we produce that content as well. It’s fun to be inside an organization that is trying to change but also has a leadership position in creating change. Even though it’s a big organization, it provides entrepreneurial energy.”

Silverman is also involved as executive producer of the Emmy-winning NBC comedy The Office and is co-creator and executive producer of the hit reality shows The Biggest Loser for NBC and USA Network’s Nashville Star. Additionally, he is executive producer of the critically acclaimed The Tudors for Showtime. Silverman’s other projects include Date My Mom for MTV, the FX series 30 Days (created by Oscar® nominee Morgan Spurlock), the Emmy Award-winning TV movie 9/11, and MTV’s Parental Consent.

In 2003, Silverman joined forces with media giant Interpublic Group to produce The Restaurant, followed by Bravo’s Blow Out in 2004. Both shows chronicled the creation, launch and operation of a business within a competitive market and were fully financed by context-relevant advertisers.

Previously, Silverman was in charge of the international packaging division at the William Morris Agency (WMA), where he was the company’s youngest division head. Among the more than 25 television series he is credited with packaging are the game shows Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The Weakest Link, the reality show Big Brother, and the one-hour drama series Queer as Folk. Silverman also led WMA’s New York consulting branch, extending such well-known brands as Maxim, InStyle, eBay and Anheuser-Busch into alternative and traditional media outlets.

Prior to joining William Morris, Silverman was vice president for New World/Marvel Entertainment, where he developed sitcoms and envisioned live-action projects for film and television. He has also held posts at CBS and Warner Bros.

For those next-generation producers and executives, Silverman advises “There are so many opportunities in media today. The number of screens that everybody has in their own pocket, let alone in their homes and cars and trains and elevators, has spurred a need for content to go on those screens, and it is only going to increase. At the same time, as the opportunities expand, the hard costs of making that content go down. You can make a film on your phone now, so the barrier to entry has gotten a lot lower for people who are willing to apply entrepreneurial energy.”

He continues: “The next generation of executive producers have to go out and actually produce and generate ideas as well as execute ideas, they can’t just talk about those ideas anymore. As the price point gets lower, there is nothing that gets our attention more than a piece of tape. Don’t let yourself be siloed, continue to keep your eyes open to the world at large. It’s not just about narrative scripted content, but think about interactive and digital and across as many genres as you can. And never be scared by the word no, because no is the easiest thing for someone to say to you. Perseverance gets through the no.”

Anne Sweeney

First inspired by a love for theatre during her school years, Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney-ABC Television Group, says her passion for television grew as a natural progression during her very first job as a page at ABC in New York.

Currently responsible for The Walt Disney Company’s entertainment and news television properties globally, a position she was promoted to in April 2004, Sweeney says: “The page program was so wonderful because you never knew where you would be from one day to the next. I’d be at ABC News one day, ABC Radio the next. Not only did I get to see so many different areas of the business, but I worked with so many different people who loved what they did and wanted to talk about their jobs and answer any questions I had.”

Certainly that experience benefits Sweeney today, as she now oversees the ABC Television Network. Delivering entertainment, news and kids programming to viewers via 228 affiliated stations across the U.S. in addition to other technological platforms, ABC series, many of which are produced by ABC Studios, are distributed to more than 200 territories across the globe by Disney-ABC Worldwide Television.

Disney-ABC Television Group also encompasses Disney Channels Worldwide, which includes 27 Disney Channels, 10 Playhouse Disney Channels, nine Toon Disney Channels and 19 Jetix/GXT Channels, as well as Radio Disney and Walt Disney Television Animation, a TV animation studio. Today Disney Channel programming reaches more than 500 million individuals in 127 countries.

It spite of the huge corporate responsibility she shoulders, Sweeney continues to demonstrate her independence and vision. “It’s so critical every day knowing that you’re independent, knowing that you’re being charged with being an entrepreneur in your own company, knowing that you have to have a vision, a lot of courage and more than anything, know and understand and stay so connected to your audience.”

Sweeney also manages cable networks ABC Family and SOAPnet, as well as Disney’s publishing imprint, Hyperion, and the company’s equity interest in Lifetime Entertainment Services and A&E Television Network.

During her tenure, Disney-ABC Television Group’s properties have experienced tremendous growth. With the help of hit series Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Dancing With the Stars, ABC’s primetime audience has grown consistently from the 2003-04 TV season to the present. ABC Studios has expanded its creative product output from 11 series in 2004 to more than 20 currently across broadcast and cable television. Popular series such as Lost have found new audiences across a variety of platforms, including VOD, broadband and mobile, in addition to the Internet. ABC News’ World News with Charles Gibson has forged into the 24-hour digital space, with content available throughout the day on ABCNews.com and an afternoon webcast that is downloaded by millions.

Giving all the credit for the network’s programming success to ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson and his team, Sweeney explains: “My business philosophy is to hire the smartest people I can find and then let them do their jobs. Steve McPherson and his team have done an extraordinary job. I am engaged in the process, but more than anything, I love seeing what they do, seeing what they create and supporting them.”

Consistently ranked as basic cable’s #1 network in primetime among kids 6-11 and ’'tweens 9-14, Disney Channel has continued to develop branded programming and franchises with worldwide appeal, utilizing popular series like Hannah Montana, the CG animated My Friends Tigger & Pooh and Disney Channel Original Movies like the smash hit High School Musical 2 to continue its ratings momentum and expand into additional markets around the world. ABC Family, available in more than 95 million U.S. homes, also continues to grow its core audience with exciting, hip programming like Greek and Kyle XY.

From October 2000 to April 2004, Sweeney served as president of ABC Cable Networks Group and Disney Channels Worldwide. Under her leadership, Disney Channel more than quintupled its subscriber base with its mix of original series and movies and acquired programming. It is now available on basic cable in nearly 95 million homes in the United States and will soon be adding Russia to its long list of international Disney Channels.

Her brand philosophy, she says, “is very simple. It’s the relationship you have with your audience. In order for a brand to stay strong, in order for Disney to stay strong, we have to know what’s going on with our audience. We have to be as connected to them as they are to their best friend. We have to be a part of their lives, we have to know what their lives are about, what they’re thinking about, what technology they’re using, what characters they love, what stories are relevant to them in their lives. Working for Disney is an honor but it’s also a great responsibility because you realize the trust that people have in the entertainment that we make, and on the ABC side, the news and information we provide to people.”

Sweeney also oversaw the successful launch of the 24-hour animation channel Toon Disney in April 1998, and built it to its current reach of more than 68 million homes in the United States. Less than two years later, in January 2000, she oversaw the launch of SOAPnet, the 24-hour soap opera network now available in more than 68 million U.S. homes.

Sweeney joined The Walt Disney Company in February 1996 as president of Disney Channel and executive vice president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks. Previously she was chairman and CEO of FX Networks, Inc., since 1993. During her tenure there, she presided over the launch of two basic cable networks: FX, an entertainment network representing the most successful basic cable launch in history; and FXM: Movies from Fox, Hollywood’s first studio-based movie network.

Before joining Fox, Sweeney spent 12 years at Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite in various executive positions, most recently as senior vice president of program enterprises. Among many accomplishments, she oversaw Nickelodeon’s international expansion, including launching the channel in the United Kingdom, resulting in a joint venture with British Sky Broadcasting.

Sweeney encourages up and coming entertainment executives to follow the advice she herself adheres to, which is: “Take the job that scares you. Take the job that you’re so curious about. Forget about the title and everything else and really focus on learning. Focus on the things that challenge you the most. That’s how you’re going to grow. And if you focus on the challenges, everything else will follow.”

The Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards will be presented on Monday, January 26 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. A limited number of tickets to the event, benefiting the NATPE Educational Foundation, are available online for $100 each. NATPE is also planning one-on-one discussions with the 2009 honorees on Tuesday, January 27. The sessions will be moderated by Broadcasting & Cable editor Ben Grossman.

LG’s Celebrity Chef Kitchen

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:00:18 +0100

Celebrating the long-standing and successful bond between television and cooking programs – from the early days of THE FRENCH CHEF with Julia Child to today’s HELL’S KITCHEN with Gordon Ramsay – NATPE is bringing larger-than-life chefs to this year’s exhibition floor in LG's Celebrity Chef Kitchen.

Among the celebrity chefs demonstrating their mastery of the culinary arts at this year’s LG Celebrity Chef Kitchen are:

	Charlie Palmer: Hospitality Entrepreneur, Chef, Hotelier. Since the beginning of his celebrated career, master Chef and hospitality entrepreneur Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature Progressive American cooking, a style built on rambunctious flavors and unexpected combinations with a deep and lasting infusion of classical French cuisine. Influenced by his childhood experiences working in his family's vegetable garden, Palmer was an early advocate of farm over factory food. In 1988, he made a landmark commitment to creating dishes featuring regional American ingredients at his sublime three-star Aureole, situated in a historic townhouse off Manhattan's Madison Avenue. He has since opening twelve notable restaurants across the country, a growing collection of food-forward wine shops and award winning boutique hotels. Some of his restaurants are: Astra, Charlie Palmer Steak, Dry Creek Kitchen and his latest opening of Charlie Palmer restaurants at the Joule in Dallas, Texas, and at Bloomingdales at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California. Inducted into the James Beard "Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America" in 1998 and a frequent guest on NBC's Today Show, Charlie Palmer is also the author of four cookbooks, Great American Food (Random House/1996), Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking (Harper Collins/2001), The Art of Aureole, (Ten Speed Press/2002), and Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen (Melcher Media/2006).
	Border Grill’s Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (TOO HOT TAMALES) have been inspired by a love for bold flavors and strong statements. For over two decades, the chefs have transformed street foods and comfort foods into critically acclaimed cuisine, and themselves from a couple of Midwestern gringas into two of the country’s foremost authorities on the Latin kitchen. Feniger, trained at The Culinary Institute of America, met Milliken, who graduated from Washburne Culinary Institute, in1978 at Le Perroquet, one of Chicago’s best French restaurants, where they were the first women to break into the all-male kitchen. They both went on to work in France before meeting up again in 1981 when they opened City Cafe on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Their success there led to the opening of City Restaurant, known for its eclectic dishes from around the globe. In 1985, the two turned the cafe site into Border Grill, a “taco stand” serving authentic home cooking and street foods of Mexico. In 1990 it moved to its current home on 4th Street in Santa Monica where it now serves upscale, modern Mexican food in an urban cantina setting. In 1998, the partners opened Ciudad in downtown Los Angeles, presenting the bold and seductive flavors of the Latin world from Havana to Buenos Aires to Barcelona. In 1999, the Border Grill concept grew to encompass another restaurant located at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The two launched their television career in 1993 with Julia Child on her PBS series COOKING WITH MASTER CHEFS, and by 1995 were hosting their own show TOO HOT TAMALES. They also have a line of prepared foods under the Border Grill brand and have authored five cookbooks.
	Kerry Simon, dubbed The Rock n’ Roll Chef by ROLLING STONE magazine, was one of the first chefs on the Las Vegas scene and now has three eateries here – Simon kitchen + bar at the Hard Rock, CatHouse at the Luxor and Simon at Palms Place. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Simon apprenticed at Jean Morels’ L’hostellerie Bressane, learning the basics of French cuisine. He then went on to work in some of Manhattan’s most legendary kitchens including La Cote Basque, Lutece and Lafayette restaurant in the Drake Hotel. At Lafayette, he held both pastry and sous chef positions, helping the restaurant receive its NEW YORK TIMES four-star rating in 1988. Soon after, he was appointed executive chef of The Plaza Hotel’s Edwardian Room, where he was the youngest to hold that title. In search of a new adventure, Simon left the Edwardian Room and headed to Miami, where he opened Blue Star and Starfish at the Raleigh Hotel. In 1998, he joined Jean Georges Vongerichten to launch and oversee Mercer Kitchen in NYC, Prime in Las Vegas and other properties in Hong Kong, London and Chicago. Back in Las Vegas, Simon met his business partner Elizabeth Blau, and together they opened Simon kitchen + bar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2002 and Simon LA at the Sofitel in 2006. In 2008 he returned to the city he calls home with two exciting openings: CatHouse at the Luxor Hotel & Casino and Simon at Palms Place.
	An award-winning chef, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author and one of the most influential chefs in the country, Jeff Henderson (CHEF JEFF PROJECT) made history in 2001 when he became the first African American chef de cuisine at Caesars Palace. He also served as an executive chef of Café Bellagio in the world-famous Bellagio Hotel Resort in Las Vegas. Henderson’s remarkable story of redemption and finding his hidden passion for cooking while incarcerated was chronicled in his bestselling memoir COOKED (published by William Morrow). Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and Escape Artists, the team who also produced THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, is now turning Henderson’s life story into a major motion picture. An inspiring personality, the chef made countless TV appearances before launching The CHEF JEFF PROJECT on The Food Network. He also recently published his first cookbook, CHEFF JEFF COOKS: IN THE KITCHEN WITH AMERICA'S INSPIRATIONAL NEW CULINARY STAR (published by Scribner/Simon and Schuster), and is CEO of Posh Urban Cuisine.
	Mandalay Bay’s own executive chef Sean DiCicco was named Las Vegas Chef of the Year for Culinary Excellence by the American Tasting Institute in 2001. At this year’s NATPE Market & Conference he will also be overseeing the Power Lunch Restaurant & Café on the exhibition floor, creating his signature dishes for hungry television executives taking advantage of the convenience and cuisine of the restaurant. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, DiCicco landed a lead cook position at New York’s famous Tavern on the Green shortly after graduation. He later became chef/owner of a fine dining establishment in Philadelphia specializing in American continental cuisine. He continued with executive chef positions in such hotels as The Hualalai Resort Four Seasons in Kona, Hawaii, and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Prior to joining Mandalay Bay, DiCicco served as director of culinary operations at The Venetian.
	Jet Tila is currently is Las Vegas developing a pan-Asian restaurant for Steve Wynn’s new Encore resort. A nationally renowned chef of Asian cuisine, Tila is known across the country for his skill, enthusiasm, expertise and knowledge of Asian regional food, with main emphasis on Thailand, China, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea and India. As a youngster, Tila spent time with his Chinese-Thai grandmother learning many of the ancient traditions of classical Asian cuisine from her. By his early teens he was cooking at his family’s Royal Thai restaurants and working at the family’s Bangkok Market, the nation’s first Thai grocery and import company. At 22, Tila caught the attention of the LOS ANGELES TIMES, spurring him on to formalize his culinary expertise at the California School of Culinary Art. He also completed an intensive study program at the California Sushi Academy. He then went to work at the LLOS ANGELES TIMES, regularly writing feature pieces for the paper’s food section. A regular on KCRW’s GOOD FOOD program with Evan Kleiman, he also hosts his own television show CHASING THE YUM on the Veria Network. More recently he was responsible for opening the Pacific Cafe at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley.
	Chef Paul Bartolotta leads Steve Wynn’s Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, which was nominated for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant award in 2006 for its Mediterranean seafood dishes. Just 24 when he was named chef de cuisine at the esteemed Ristorante San Domenico in Italy, Bartolotta expanded his culinary horizons in France, training at Moulin de Mougins, Paul Bocuse, Troisgros and Taillevent. Bartolotta opened San Domenico’s lauded New York outpost and spent nine years running the stoves at Chicago’s Spiaggia. He won the 1994 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award, and was the recipient of the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano del Mondo in 1997.
	Jean Francois Meteigner, owner of Los Angeles’ La Cachette, is one of only 50 U.S. chefs to be inducted into the Association Des Maitres-Cuisiners, the premier international society of the finest French chefs in the world. Since opening La Cachette (the Hideaway) in 1994, Meteigner has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative French chefs in California. Growing up in Vichy, France, at the age of 15 Meteigner began apprenticing in the kitchen at the three-star Troisgros in Roanne. Next, he cooked with chef Jean Ramet at the two-star Le Chapon Fin in Bordeaux and then on to Paris to cook with chef Alain Senderens at the three-star L’Archestrade and Michel Bidier at the two-star Chiberta. In the early 1980s he came to the United States, where he spent a decade as executive chef of Los Angeles’ premier French restaurant, L’Orangerie.
	Andrew Steiner was born in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up with the flavors of a mostly Jewish and Italian neighborhood in Queens (which, not coincidentally, produced amazing fresh mozzarella). After working in the New York catering world he headed for Los Angeles in the early ‘90s and landed a job waiting tables at Joachim Splichal’s legendary Patina at its original location on Melrose. Patina was where Steiner fell madly and passionately in love with cheese, and the young waiter made it his mission to learn everything about it. On the bus to work, Steiner read Steve Jenkins’ Cheese Primer. Upon Patina’s downtown relocation at the Walt Disney Hall, Splichal gave him the formal title and full-time position of Maitre d’Fromage. After 24 years in the restaurant business, the now-veteran cheese expert decided it was time to open his own store and follow his calling: to bring the world of cheese to the public. He had an affinity for creating relationships with customers, and he wanted to be able to share his profound knowledge with people who loved cheese and—perhaps more importantly—those who knew nothing about it. Winning cheese converts one by one is what sets Steiner apart from the rest. “Working in restaurants was a whole lesson in hospitality,” Steiner says. “I love talking to people and getting to know them. With my own business, I have an opportunity to do the same—and blab on about cheese at the same time. That’s why this shop is a dream come true for me.”
	Chef Nathan Lyon is known to viewers across the country for his simple, innovative cuisine featuring fresh, local ingredients. Among the final four on the second season of The Next Food Network Star, he is the creator and host of A Lyon in the Kitchen (Discovery Health and Fit TV) and appears as a guest chef / expert on Home Made Simple (TLC) and Real Simple (TLC). Nathan holds a BS in Health Science from James Madison University as well as a Culinary Arts Degree from Le Cordon Bleu. After graduating from James Madison University with a BS in Health Science and a minor in Public Health, Nathan backpacked his way across Europe, learning about local customs, culture, and cuisine. Laden with ideas and info, Nathan headed home, eventually opting for culinary school in Los Angeles. Along the way he worked in many restaurants, both in and out of the kitchen, honing his skills and uncovering the various synergies of food preparation. SCSCA Le Cordon Bleu reinforced discoveries from his years of traveling and working at farmers markets: everything we need comes from Mother Earth… unadulterated, unprocessed, unparalleled. These days, when Nathan isn’t shooting his show, you can still find him at your local farmers market, planning the week’s menu and advising customers how to pick, store and prepare all kinds of produce. Up next: a cookbook, a radio show, and a compost project with inner-city kids.
	Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan is the 4th woman in the country ever to obtain the title of Master of Wine (MW), the most esteemed designation in the wine industry. The MW exam is the most rigorous and difficult wine exam for wine in the world. She is also one of the few to have achieved both the highest credentials of the internationally renowned Wine & Spirits Education Trust (DWS) and The Society of Wine Educators (CWE) and is a contributing editor to the 2007 Professional Wine Reference. As the national educator at Remy Cointreau USA, Jennifer travels the country training distributor salespeople on their premium brands as well as conducts trade and consumer wine events. For her expertise, Jennifer has been featured on Fox News, Fox Business, CBS, CW, Martha Stewart Radio, Plum TV and The New York Times. She has hosted many wine seminars for culinary schools such as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and The Art Institute of America as well as large corporations including Morgan Stanley, UBS, Lazard Financial and The Council of Protocol Executives (COPE). She currently resides in Midtown Manhattan.
	Dana Slatkin is a chef, consultant and culinary teacher. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, Dana completed a two-year program at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, winning several awards and graduating at the top of her class. She trained in France with Michelin Three-Star chefs Georges Blanc and Michel Guerard and with renowned patissier Pierre Hermé at Fauchon. After cooking in New York City at Bouley, Dana moved to Los Angeles to become General Manager at L’Orangerie, one of the city’s most highly regarded formal restaurants. In 1994, seeing a need to engage her local community, she launched the Beverly Hills Farmers Market, which became the inspiration for her own line of food products. Her Danabelle’s Oven-Fresh Scones, Veggibles and Fruitles won awards at the International Fancy Food Show and sold to supermarkets and airline companies for nearly a decade. Dana’s first cookbook, Summertime Anytime, was published in the Spring of 2008 by Clarkson Potter. In addition to consulting for food companies on new product development, Dana teaches popular cooking classes to children and adults. She has appeared on the Today Show and Extra!. and cooked on stage at Maria Shriver‘s 2008 WE Empower Conference in Long Beach. Dana is currently developing a cooking show for television. Dana especially enjoys combining cooking and philanthropy for a variety of children’s causes. She is a founding member of Everychild Foundation and concert classical pianist. She currently lives with her husband and three children in Los Angeles.
	Steve Spitz’s passion for food started at an early age, being raised in the family restaurant business. Steve was the food and beverage manager at the prestigious Waterford Dining Room, where he cooked for celebrities, heads of state, and the Chaine des Rotisseurs. He soon found himself taking time every year to travel to Europe where he attended cooking schools in small villages learning how to perfect his palate. Widely known for his innovative cooking and wine pairing skills, Spitz’s television shows are built around his wide range of talents. He comes by his passion for wine making as his family’s winery, Spitz & Fils in France’s Alsace Region, has been producing great wines for a generation. His kitchen notoriety has landed him as host of the National Beer Wholesalers Association first annual “Cooking With Beer” cook-off held at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and in February he will host the Telluride Aids Benefit for his fifth consecutive year. Now in his fifth year of his nationally syndicated television shows “Living Better with Steve Spitz” and “Intoxicating Cuisine with Steve Spitz”, he announces his new daily television series, “Live with Steve Spitz”.
	Lily Chau, Avery Bilz and Matt Austin have one thing in common - their love of food. They can be seen co-hosting Oasis Entertainment's TASTE BUDS, a hands-on cooking series for kids that encourages them to think about what they eat and explore foods from around the world. TASTE BUDS mixes it up with lots of fun and positive messages about healthy eating, kitchen safety, and environmental responsibility. Most importantly, it allows kids to be creative in the kitchen making it the ultimate food series for kids.
	Chef Richard Blais, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, has worked with some of the world’s most respected chefs, including Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria and Daniel Boulud. An eternal student, Blais has also studied in many world-class restaurants ranging from Chez Panisse to El Bulli. In 2001, Blais earned the position as Executive Chef at Fishbone in Atlanta, and in 2003, he opened the eponymous BLAIS, where his menu focused on creative, boundary-pushing preparations of taste, temperature and texture. In 2005, he led One Midtown Kitchen to a rare four-star review in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and has also worked in creating such diverse concepts as Piebar, Bazzaar and Element Gastro Lounge all in the metro Atlanta area. Richard’s creativity and unique approach to the culinary arts has drawn a wide variety of interest from both local and national media. A current Trail-Blais project is the development and recent opening of a modern hamburger concept called ‘Flip’ in Atlanta. Blais, a recipient of Gayot Guide’s ‘Top Five Rising Chefs of 2005,’ currently appears on BRAVO’s ‘Top Chef: Chicago,’ and recently appeared on the Food Network’s ‘Iron Chef America.’ He has been featured in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and Food & Wine Magazine for his creative take on American food.
	Chef Brian Malarkey is the Executive Chef and Operating Partner at the Oceanaire Restaurant in San Diego. Malarkey’s interest in the world of food began on the Oregon coast where he spent his summers as a child. He later enrolled in the Western Culinary Institute’s Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Portland, where after graduation, Malarkey set his sights on California and sought the disciplines of French chef Michael Richard of Citrus in Los Angeles. After holding several positions in Richard’s kitchen, he traveled abroad and ate his way through Europe and Africa, learning not only the meaning of food to different cultures but their individual techniques as well. In 2001, he returned to his beloved Pacific Northwest to open The Oceanaire’s Seattle location as Executive Sous Chef. It was under the tutelage of both Chef Rick Kimmes in Minneapolis and Chef Kevin Davis in Seattle that Malarkey blossomed into a seafood talent. In 2004, Malarkey relocated to southern California to open The Oceanaire in San Diego as Executive Chef and Operating Partner. In 2007, the California Restaurant Association honored him with Chef of the Year. Highlights of his career include being selected as one of the final four contestants on Bravo’s reality television series Top Chef 3: Miami and serving as keynote speaker for the 2006 graduation ceremony at his alma mater, the Western Culinary Institute. He was also invited to teach a class on his famous “Angry Lobster” for the students and was an honored guest at the annual President’s Lunch.

NATPE’s Celebrity Chef Kitchen is sponsored by Whole Foods Market, Caymus Vineyards, Piper Heidsieck Champagne and Southern Wine & Spirits.

NATPE’s Celebrity Chef Kitchen is produced by Shelley Janson, former owner of the Los Angeles’ respected Epicurean School of Culinary Arts and currently director of Janson Food Events and NATPE’s VP of business development and sales, Denise O’Connor.

Cable U’s Emerging Producer Nonfiction TV Competition

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:18:56 +0100

If you’re an independent producer with a great idea for a nonfiction project, has NATPE got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you! CableU, the online industry resource for information and analysis of cable network program sales, distribution, production and scheduling, is sponsoring an Emerging Producer Nonfiction TV Competition, with the top three finalists earning complimentary admission to the NATPE 2009 Market & Conference in Las Vegas and the opportunity to pitch their program idea to the development team of distributor CABLEready during a live pitch session at the conference.

CABLEready’s senior vice president of operations, Lou Occhicone, explains: “Gary Lico, founder, president and CEO of CABLEready, has participated in NATPE’s Pitch Pit events in the past, giving producers recommendations for being better at pitching their project, and we’ve served on panels of various pitch competitions before, but this is the first time we’re conducting our own pitch contest.”

“Our sister company, CableU, is a website designed specifically for independent producers and programmers,” adds Liz Levenson, CABLEready’s manager of programming. “The site provides an inside perspective on the industry and we really encourage independent producers to become subscribers because there’s excellent information available on the site as to what the networks are looking for and how best to position pitches to the cable networks. With CableU in mind, we created this contest so that we could give independent producers who might not ordinarily have a chance to pitch directly to a network executive, the opportunity to do that and hopefully, they’ll be using CableU along the way.”

Detailing the criteria used for judging the submissions, Levenson says determining how saleable the project or concept is a key factor. “Knowing your target network is really important for an independent producer. You’ve got to watch the network and create a show that matches and meshes well with what the network is looking for, that’s essential. You can span so many genres, there are so many nonfiction networks covering everything from science and history to women’s entertainment and all across the board.”

Producers interested in participating must submit their independently produced nonfiction project by December 1, 2008. A completed submission form, accessible at http://www.cableu.tv/assets/program_submission_form.pdf, must be included with each submission. Submissions must also include a written treatment and a biography and/or filmography of the submitting producer. Other relevant material such as a press kit or VHS/DVD preview copies are optional. If video content is included, it should not exceed 5 minutes in length. Please do not send masters or other irreplaceable content. And if you want your preview tape returned, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission.

All materials should be sent to CableU, to the attention of Liz Levenson, 98 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851 USA. If you are submitting only a written treatment, please e-mail your treatment and completed submission form to emergingproducers@cableu.tv This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, so you’ll need JavaScript enabled to view it. If you wish to fax your submission materials, the fax number is (203) 855-8370.

The top three finalist submissions selected to participate at the NATPE Opportunity of a Lifetime session, slated for Wednesday, January 28 at 11a.m., will be notified by December 2, 2008. Submissions will be judged on their uniqueness, the strength of the pitch and the program’s viability.

The NATPE Opportunity of a Lifetime session will be chaired by CABLEready founder, president and CEO Gary Lico, recognized as an expert in representing existing program libraries and developing original program ideas for U.S. cable networks. Lico, who gained his programming experience and knowledge through executive positions with both Columbia Pictures Television and Katz Communications, will be offering pitch advice and other insights during the session. He’ll be assisted by Sabrina Toledo, CABLEready’s VP of sales and marketing, who will contribute an international perspective to the session, along with observations and recommendations from CABLEready’s Levenson.

The winner of the Opportunity of a Lifetime competition will receive a one-year membership to CableU (valued at $850) and a possible one-year representation deal from CABLEready.

“We encourage producers to develop unique angles and bring something new to the table that other producers can’t do,” says Levenson.

“That’s the key to any pitch,” adds Occhicone. “You have to be able to bring the access to that character or location, you have to do your homework and you’ve got to have everything locked up before you make that pitch. And that’s part of the advice that we’ll be giving during the panel presentation at NATPE.”

About CableU

CABLEready (http://www.cableready.net) combined its successful sales tools with the massive resources of Cynopsis (http://www.cynopsis.com) to create CableU: the industry’s up-to-date and already-proven resource of effective cable network program sales, distribution, production and scheduling information and analysis. CableU monitors and analyzes cable network performance and programming trends to give networks and producers a unique competitive advantage. For producers, it’s about knowing your clients better. For programmers, it’s about knowing your competitors and program sources best. For CableU subscription information, visit http://www.cableu.tv/enrollment-jumpage/.

Making the most of technological innovations, NATPE is partnering with HipCricket Inc., specialists in producing interactive mobile marketing campaigns that generate new revenue for radio, television and agency clients, to provide session reminders and alerts for NATPE 2008 Conference & Exhibition participants through their mobile phones while in Las Vegas. Reminder messages are delivered 30 minutes prior to session start times as well as updates regarding changes to sessions. To sign up for mobile alerts, text the alphanumeric code that follows the session description in the online 2008 NATPE agenda (http://www.natpe.org/conference/agenda/?_mode=DYNAMIC) to the shortcode 36617. To learn more about HipCricket’s Mobile Marketing Solutions, text the word DEMO to 36617.

One track of sessions sure to warrant a mobile reminder is the new Digital Briefings series, a special daylong track that runs throughout the day on Tuesday, January 29 in the Breakers L meeting room. The sessions introduce companies leading the charge into the digital and broadband age. Key decision-makers from technology and new media companies will be on hand to provide cutting-edge research, share formal overviews and participate in Q&A sessions moderated by Will Richmond, a 20-year veteran of the broadband, cable TV, content and technology industries and the president and founder of Broadband Directions LLC.

Kicking off the daylong briefings at 10:30 a.m. is Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst at Leichtman Research Group, Inc. Leichtman will examine The Market for New Video Services: Where Do Consumers Stand? Presenting recent LRG study findings, Leichtman will help NATPE participants assess where the real opportunities are when it comes to how, when and where consumers are using DVRs, VOD, online video, iPods, cell phones and HDTV. At 11:15 a.m., Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, executive vice president, content acquisition & strategy for Joost, will make a special presentation, Joost: Building a Media Business, explaining the benefits and opportunities offered through partnering with the online video service that bills itself as “next generation TV.”

SpotStock executive producer and creative director Sandra Caryl joins Trisha Lasar, vice president of music for The Film and Music Company, for a three-part presentation entitled The Wealth on Your Shelf at 12 noon in the Digital Briefing room. The presentation will cover the viral marketing influences of social networking sites as well as how library footage and music can be turned into new market revenues.

Broadband Enterprises delivers its Digital Briefing, Context Is King, at 12:45 p.m. The hyphenate company – part rep firm, part syndication company, part production company – will discuss the future of interactive marketing and contextual distribution. The company’s CEO, Matt Wasserlauf, chief operating officer Bryon Evje and senior vice president of distribution Jeff Hufford will make the presentation.

Livid Media president and co-founder Charles Vaughn steps into the Digital Briefing room at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday to examine User-Submitted Content 2.0: Original Programming’s NEW Best Friend. Vaughn will explore exactly what user-generated content is and can be, as demonstrated by Livid.tv’s professionally produced original video content incorporation of user-generated content in the creation of a unique web viewing experience for users and marketers.

Gilles BianRosa, chief executive officer for Vuze, Inc., a next-generation online entertainment platform, makes his Digital Briefing presentation, How to Make IPTV Work, at 2:15 p.m. Vuze is also sponsoring wireless access available throughout the NATPE Conference & Exhibition areas.

Enticent’s president and CEO Chris Bell will address Interactive Audience Loyalty Programs That Increase Revenue, Web Traffic, and Ratings during his Digital Briefing at 3 p.m. Interactive loyalty programs have been used by radio for years to increase non-spot revenue, web traffic and ratings. Now these high-impact programs are being introduced to television. Enticent, provider of interactive loyalty programs to over 300 media companies, will showcase the benefits, explore case studies, and give a brief demonstration of a live loyalty program.

At 3:45 p.m., Teletrax president and managing director Andy Nobbs will explore Tools for Enhancing Value in the New TV Marketplace. Nobbs will discuss how investing in new technologies such as a media measurement service can help programming executives successfully manage their video assets and measure ROI, and will also provide real-world examples of where this technology is currently being used effectively.

Matt Kaplan, VP creative and client services for PermissionTV, presents Taming the Online Video Beast: User Experience and Monetization Strategies at 4:30 in the Digital Briefing area. Online video and the evolution of Internet television (aka TV 2.0) are changing the game for content owners, brands and marketers. The session will explore the online video evolution; core differences between traditional TV and TV 2.0; critical elements for success; audience monetization strategies and challenges; and case studies such as Boston Pops, Mitt Romney and Quarterlife.

At 5:15 p.m., Charlie Oppenheimer, CEO of Digital Fountain, a leading provider of advanced standardized solutions for digital media delivery, addresses TV Quality Video Made Easy. Oppenheimer will reveal new technological advancements and unique business approaches for content delivery that he believes will set a new bar for streaming video over the Internet, changing consumer viewing habits, and making high-quality video more accessible to content providers of all shapes and sizes.

NATPE 2009 Market & Conference

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:13:55 +0100

With the theme of Content, Commerce, Connections for its 2009 NATPE Market & Conference, NATPE co-chair Kevin Beggs, president of programming & production with Lionsgate, and NATPE CEO and president Rick Feldman announced a number of exciting new changes and additions for the organization’s annual gathering, slated for January 26–29 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Highlighting the accomplishments of Lionsgate, Hollywood’s maverick independent “mini-major” studio, Beggs and Feldman jointly announced that Jon Feltheimer, the studio’s co-chairman and CEO, has agreed to deliver the keynote address for the 2009 NATPE Market & Conference, kicking the event off on Tuesday morning, January 27.

“We felt that, looking into the future, Jon and his company really represent exactly where the business is going,” said Feldman in announcing the keynote speaker. “He’s sort of a mini-major and because of that a lot of the institutional stuff that exists with legacy brands that have been around for a long time, doesn’t necessarily exist at Lionsgate, which allows them to be a little more footloose and fancy free and a little quicker on the draw which also means that they can be a little more creative. Considering our conference theme is content, commerce, connections, his and Lionsgate’s accomplishments are ones that we want to highlight. Jon has a lot to say about where the business is going to be in the next five years and, as a consummate businessman who grew up in our world, and we’re very pleased to have him.”

Home to popular television series such as Weeds, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and the Emmy-winning Mad Men in addition to Oscar®-winning films like Crash, Monster’s Ball and 3:10 to Yuma, Lionsgate continues to push the creative envelope while generating top ratings and substantial box office revenues. The studio also recently announced plans to partner with Viacom’s Paramount and MGM on the creation of a new multiplatform entertainment venture slated to launch in 3Q 2009.

Having mainstreamed content for mobile platforms into the general Conference over the past few years, NATPE will now focus on Managing Change in a Turbulent Media Landscape on Monday, January 26. The day-long executive management program, presented as an interactive workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., is produced in association with the USC Marshall School of Business and RUI (Really Useful Information, Inc.).

“All in all, this will be an opportunity for executives to garner the strategic and effective skill sets for managing the change we’re all in the midst of right now,” said Beth Braen, NATPE’s SVP Marketing. “It’s also an opportunity for serious people from various aspects of the industry to come together and get a full day of executive education as an adjunct to NATPE.”

The program provides tactical approaches for media professionals to apply to real-world environments and situations that require sustained change and learning. Speakers from the media industry and well-respected professors and educators from USC Marshall will offer effective and strategic transformation tools and frameworks that represent cutting-edge change management techniques. Registration for the special executive management program is separate from the NATPE registration fee; however, when combined with a full NATPE registration, it is discounted to $300. For those attending only the management program, the registration fee is $450.

Doubling the space of the exhibition floor at Mandalay Bay, NATPE has created a number of new destinations to benefit attendees. Among the new floor offerings are: the newly designed Technology & Emerging Media Zone, featuring the What’s Next Demo Lab, home to cutting-edge demos showcasing the latest technology shaping the content lifecycle;the multi-functional Digital Theater, accommodating up to 100, will feature demos, digital briefings and interactive chats;the Celebrity Chef Kitchen, a live showcase for TV’s hottest celebrity chefs with plenty of room for demonstrating culinary skills, testing favorite recipes and interacting with NATPE participants; and the Signature Restaurant & Café, providing NATPE participants with the convenience of a full-service restaurant for power lunches right on the NATPE exhibit floor, offering table reservations and service options.

Other innovations include the B2B Lounge, where agents, advertisers, brand executives and other invited guests can reserve space to hold meetings; and the Networking Lounge, offering e-mail kiosks and electrical charging stations. NATPE will also offer free WiFi Internet connectivity throughout the exhibit floor.

Reported Feldman: “We’ve had a lot of conversations with many exhibitors and the consensus was we needed to make the floor a real destination and, once there, try to make it easier for people to stay on the floor. We think the restaurant and the Lounges will help with that, keeping people on the floor for their meetings. We also think that moving the Digital Briefings to the floor will also help. We’re trying to make this a rich experience for people who are already on the floor, and also hopefully attract some of the people in the suites down to the floor and keep them there a bit longer as well.”

On the Conference front, NATPE will host Insider Chats in its new Media Center located on the exhibition floor. These informal discussions with industry insiders will inspire and motivate attendees, providing insight and advice for moving projects and content to the next level.

There will also be Digital Briefings, examining the relationship between content and the latest technology. Leading companies from the digital and broadband sectors and decision-makers from technology and new media companies will be on hand to provide cutting-edge research, share formal overviews and participate in Q&A sessions.

On Wednesday, NATPE has added a special Newsmaker Address, shining the spotlight on a media company that’s been in the headlines for leading the latest trend, or for[gj1] its innovation, business practices or impact on the industry overall; its CEO has been invited to speak with NATPE attendees.

Also on Wednesday, NATPE and Conference sponsors get the party started by hosting Media Bash, a networking, noshing, fun-filled gathering conveniently located right on the exhibit floor. “There are various aspects of the business now looking to connect with other aspects and may not know where to find people they need to do business with,” added Feldman. “NATPE really is the only market in the country where you get the producers, the agents, advertisers, cable and broadcast networks, online and mobile platforms, and we’re going to make it easier for all of these contingents to connect with one another and then ultimately make the deals that create the commerce part of our mantra.”

A list of exhibitors, speakers, session topics and other events that comprise the NATPE 2009 Market & Conference will be available online at http://www.natpemarket.com.

Early Bird registration for three full days at the NATPE 2009 Market & Conference is $850 (and includes a one-year NATPE Professional membership valued at $195) and expires on November 24, 2008. Advance registration (from November 25 through January 20, 2009) is priced at $1,050. For more information on the NATPE 2009 Market & Conference, or to register, visit http://www.natpemarket.com. [gj1]This was a very confusing sentence. I tried to fix it. Is this OK, or is there something I’m missing? >