Q: Can you tell us about your background? What made you want to work in entertainment?

A: After college graduation, I took a trip cross-country where my friend and I were going to every major league ball park in a Volkswagen van. At the time, I was reading my first year law books and realized from them that I didn't want to pursue media-law.  My van-mate said that his father, who was a media buyer, always told him that he thought I should sell for a living and, as it turned out his father had been hooking us up with great seats at every ballpark.  Through him, I was able to get an interview at TeleRep and instead of law school I began my television career as a sales assistant at TeleRep in NY.  Sales and management roles at TeleRep, A&E, The History Channel, Oxygen Media and Court TV (last as the EVP and GM of Ad Sales) followed and, upon the acquisition of 100% of Court TV by Time Warner in 2006, I moved to AMC as their General Manager and now President and GM.

Q: What were some of the factors in deciding to expand into original programming?

A: I came to AMC on the heels of the premiere of one of the most successful cable mini-series of all time, Broken Trail.  As a first foray into mini-series for AMC, this two-night Robert Duvall epic delivered an 8 rating on two consecutive nights and clearly confirmed that AMC could build originals that fit seamlessly into the landscape with our library of the best movies of all time.  It also did something that Josh Sapan (President and CEO of Rainbow Media) and Ed Carroll (Chief Operating Officer of Rainbow Entertainment Services) have articulated as the original programming mission since well before I joined:  to build original properties of distinction that create value for our distribution and advertising partners.   Broken Trail, Mad Men, Breaking Bad and our first mini-series since Broken Trail, the upcoming The Prisoner starring Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel, all bring a level of distinction and quality and each complements and is complemented by AMC's unique stable of films.  AMC is the largest, most widely-distributed movie network in America and to combine that with some of the most original scripted programming on television certainly creates the value that Josh and Ed envisioned.

Q: How would you define the AMC brand?

A: AMC is a place -- regardless of platform -- that honors great storytelling.  And as you sit at home in primetime flipping channels or search the web for entertainment, that seemingly very simple promise is one that few brands can make these days.  It's been said that the best of television is heralded as 'cinematic' while the worst of movies still wind up on many other platforms.  Our movies and our original product — each well scripted, patiently-told stories, shot on film and bearing cinematic detail on multiple levels — deliver the best storytelling on television today.  That attention to story and the great storytellers touches every platform the AMC brand touches.  We frequently speak internally about making sure AMC is a "creative-friendly" home for the best storytellers and today more than ever the brand remains true to that mission.

Q: What do you look for when considering or developing new material?

A: Consistent with our brand definition it always starts with story.  We're looking for the best stories and story-tellers and we're looking to showcase them in a context that lets you know that you're consistently going to get something better from AMC.

Q: Where do you want your network to be in five years’ time?

A: What will make 2014 great is when people mention AMC as an unaided response to the question, where can you find the best stories on television or any other platform on which we will be consuming content a half-decade from now.

Q: Anything you would like to add?

A: As long as we're talking storytelling and the AMC brand, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the story tellers at the helm of both of our Emmy-award winning shows this year.  Matt Weiner, the writer and creator of Mad Men, and Vince Gilligan, the writer and creator of Breaking Bad, are two of the best in the business today.  While each story they tell is distinctively different, with each script they deliver they allow everyone at AMC to know that these are passion projects for them.