Art of the Pitch

Panelist Bios-- “Art of the Pitch”

 

Perry Simon

General Manager, Channels, BBC Worldwide America

 

Perry Simon was named General Manager, Channels, BBC Worldwide America, in September 2010, based in New York. He is responsible for the growth strategy and creative direction of BBC America, BBC America HD, Video on Demand, BBCAmerica.com, and future content distribution platforms for the company’s U.S. operations. Simon’s role will include driving programming, marketing and operations for BBC America, now in 68 million homes, as well as commissioning original programming for the channel collaborating with BBC public service, BBC Worldwide Productions and the creative communities in the U.S. and UK.

Simon began his television career as an integral part of NBC’s programming team (1980-1993), rising to the post of Executive Vice President, Prime-Time Programs, NBC Entertainment, overseeing all aspects of NBC’s prime-time schedule. During his tenure at NBC, he helped develop and supervise some of the network’s most successful and enduring series including: The Cosby Show, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Law and Order, L.A. Law, Miami Vice, Mad About You, Frasier, and Seinfeld.

Following NBC, Simon spent ten years as President of Viacom Productions where he managed the development and production of programming targeted for broadcast and cable networks, first-run syndication, international markets, home video, children’s markets, and evolving digital platforms. Network and cable scripted series included Ed (NBC) starring Tom Cavanagh in a Golden Globe-nominated performance; Sabrina the Teenage Witch (ABC/WB), Diagnosis Murder (CBS) starring Dick Van Dyke, The Chris Isaak Show (Showtime), Resurrection Blvd. (Showtime), and partnering with director Barry Levinson and writer/producer Tom Fontana to produce the award-winning prison drama, Oz (HBO) and The Beat (UPN) starring Mark Ruffalo. Non-scripted/alternative series included Beyond Chance (Lifetime reality series), Small Doses (Comedy Central sketch show), Latino Laugh Festival (Showtime), and the animated children’s series Sabrina (ABC) and Corduroy The Bear (PBS). Viacom Productions also produced over thirty network and cable movies for television during Simon’s tenure starring such award-winning actors as William H. Macy, Peter Falk and James Caan. Viacom Productions’ 2002 Showtime movie Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, earned both Peabody and Emmy Awards.

Subsequently, Simon founded Shore View Entertainment based at Paramount Television. As President of Shore View, he developed and produced programming for a variety of television outlets, and served as Executive Producer on USA Network’s popular science-fiction series The 4400.

Simon most recently served as Chief Content Officer at “over the top” television service provider Sezmi Corporation, overseeing the company’s content licensing, programming and advertising activities since its inception in 2006. He completed licensing deals with most of the major cable programming suppliers including NBC-U, Viacom, Turner and Discovery, and all the major film studios, and worked with Sezmi engineers and the advertising community to create a state-of-the-art interactive advertising platform. Simon shares a patent for designing Sezmi’s innovative U.I. that integrates multi-platform content into branded viewing “zones”.

Simon also served as Special Advisor to You Tube, Inc. helping the company develop and execute studio and network partnership strategies from YouTube’s start-up stage through to their acquisition by Google. In the gaming sector, Simon worked with Electronic Arts to adapt several of their gaming franchises for television.

Currently, Simon serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon (America’s largest regional theatre) and as an advisor to TV interactive fan site BuddyTV.com. He is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors of Discreet Logic, Inc., a leading developer and distributor of open-platform digital imaging processing software. Simon holds a B.A. in Economics and Communications (Phi Beta Kappa) from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

 

 

 

Andrew Schnieder and Diane Frolov

Television Producers

 

Andrew Schnieder and Diane Frolov are award-winning television writers and producers. They have written for several television shows, including The Sopranos and Northern Exposure.

Frolov gained her first producer credit as a co-producer and writer for the first season of Johnson's series Alien Nation. She wrote two episodes singlehandedly before beginning her longstanding collaboration with her husband and writing partner Andrew Schneider. Schneider and Frolov had both previously been on the staff of Magnum, P.I. and The Incredible Hulk but had not co-written a teleplay on either series. Together Frolov and Schneider wrote a further seven episodes for the first season of Alien Nation. The series concluded with the 1989 to 1990 television season.

They moved on to supervising producer positions on the second season of Northern Exposure which aired in 1991. They co-wrote two episodes for the second season. The production team were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for the first season.[1] Frolov and Schneider returned as supervising producers and writers for the third season and co-wrote a further six episodes. In 1992, they won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series as co-writers on the third season Northern Exposure episode "Seoul Mates". The production team were nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series again for the third season and this time won the award. Frolov and Schneider were renewed as writers for the fourth season and again contributed six episodes across the season's 1992 to 1993 run. The production team was also nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for the fourth season but did not win. Frolov and Schneider were promoted to executive producers for the fifth season and wrote a further six episodes including the season premiere and were once again nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. They remained executive producers and regular writers for the season sixth and final season, again contributing six episodes.

Alien Nation continued as a series of television movies and Frolov and Schneider wrote three installments of the five film series. The first was Alien Nation: Dark Horizon which Frolov and Schneider wrote while working on Northern Exposure and which aired in 1994. They also scripted the second and fourth installments entitled Alien Nation: Body and Soul (1995) and Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (1996).

Following the conclusion of Northern Exposure in 1995 Frolov and Schneider executive produced a Dangerous Minds a television drama based on the film of the same name. Dangerous Minds was cancelled after the 1995 to 1996 television season. They went on to executive produce a short-lived remake of Fantasy Island. The series was cancelled after airing 13 episodes in the 1998 to 1999 season. They were next hired as head writers and executive producers for The Chris Isaak Show and co-wrote 19 episodes including the series pilot in 2001 and the series finale in 2004.

They were next hired as supervising producers for the hit HBO drama series The Sopranos. They had previously worked with series creator and show runner David Chase on Northern Exposure. They joined the crew for the sixth season and were credited with three of the episodes from the seasons first part, which aired in 2006. They co-wrote the episodes "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh", "Johnny Cakes", and "Cold Stones" (with Chase). Along with the rest of the production team Frolov won the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for best dramatic series at the February 2007 ceremony for her work on the first part of the sixth season of The Sopranos. The production team was also nominated for the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series[1] and the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award for the 2006 Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Drama.

Frolov and Schneider returned to The Sopranos as supervising producers and writers for the second part of the sixth season. They co-wrote the opening episode "Soprano Home Movies" with Chase and executive producer Matthew Weiner. The production team won the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for their work on the second part of season six. They also won the PGA Award for the 2007 Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Drama. They were nominated for the WGA Award for best dramatic series at the February 2008 ceremony.

 

Steve Gordon

Assistant Professor, Ithaca College

Digital Producer

 

Steve Gordon teaches television production and development at Ithaca College following 25 years in the television industry in Hollywood and New York, formerly as Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs for Viacom Productions. There he had the pleasure of working with the panelists in this presentation, Perry Simon and Diane Frolov and Andy Schneider. He supervised development efforts for over 2000 hours of programming including the series Sabrina The Teenage Witch for ABC, The Chris Isaak Show for Showtime, Ed for NBC and the Emmy nominated 4400 for the USA Network.

 

His creating/producing work in television continues with work on a Christmas movie for Lifetime Television, "Santa Con," and a digital presentation for the Telvision Academy Foundation, "Conjuring Creaitvity." He recently produced a web series for YouTube, " Murder Trial of the Golden Doorknob" and  “The Art of The Pitch” for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation. In 2012, he produced a digital presentation for Mira’s Movement, a regional childhood cancer foundation. Recently, he co-produced and directed a “dramedy” series for Rocky Mountain PBS, Good Grief.  In 2010, He also produced Rose’s Story, a recorded performance of monologues for Franziska Racker Centers/BOCES, which has been used as a diversity and tolerance education tool in several national educational conferences. In 2009, he produced an informational video for Ithaca Motion Picture Project, a group working on restoring the historic Wharton Movie Studio in Stewart Park in Ithaca, New York. He sits on the Board of Advisors for that organization.

 

Gordon’s students have won 3 national awards for their work from 2011-2013 including two winning documentary entries for the Television Academy’s College Television Awards and First Place in long-form documentary competition at the 2013 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts.

 

Gordon was on the Editorial Board of the Princeton Review Guide to Top Television, Film and Digital Media Programs at Colleges and Universities (in which Ithaca College happens to be highly rated!).  For the past 19 years, he has been a member and former chair of the Education Committee of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and produced the College Television Awards Screenings featuring the nation’s best in film and digital works. While at Viacom, he was also a longtime mentor in the group’s Student Internship Program where each of his mentees have enjoyed a 100% success rate in achieving employment in the industry--his first intern is a Vice president of the CBS Television Network.