by Chase Bartels and Tori Socha, JHRTS Co-Presidents
April brought great news from our friends at the Michael J Fox Foundation. On April 10th, TEAM FOX recognized JHRTS one of their biggest financial contributors of the year at their Annual Donors Banquet in New York. We are honored to have been mentioned and thank everyone who donated to the cause through our Annual Holiday Party last December to make this possible.
Our April lecture titled "Diversity: On and Off the Small Screen" was held at CAA on April 14. It was an important discussion, moderated by Bob Mendez (SVP, Diversity and Talent Development, ABC), about the ever changing face of our industry and the systems set in place to discover and nurture tomorrow's talent. Panelists consisted of Lucia Cottone (VP, Series Development & Current Programming Lifetime Television/ Director of Colour TV), Kim Myers (Director of Diversity, WGA), Danielle Sanchez (Producer, MY NAME IS EARL) and Grace Wu (SVP, Casting, NBC).
On April 20th, JHRTS held our 2nd Annual Comedy Night benefiting the Life Steps Foundation at The Comedy Store. Hosted by Eleanor Kerrigan, guests laughed to jokes from a dozen local comedians including, Matt Braunger, Chris D'Elia, and up comer Dan Levy. The night was met with great enthusiasm and we hope to continue this tradition in years to come.
In May, our Roundtable was hosted by Sadoux Kim who works with Product Integrations for Mark Burnett Productions. Leading an educational and entertaining discussion, Sadoux shared with members how networks and production companies handle buy-ins and about the overall process of integration for shows like "The Apprentice" and "Survivor. "
On May 20th, over 300 members and guests gathered at JHRTS' 2009 Upfront Celebration to celebrate the newest in television. The event, held at Hollywood hotspot "H.Wood", honored the end of pilot season and rewarded everyone's hard work throughout the year.
We are very excited to announce that on June 1st we will be hosting an exclusive pilot preview of "The Philanthropist" (NBC) for our members. Following the screening, attendees will get a chance to ask questions about the pilot with panelists: Ben Silverman (Co-Chairman NBC Entertainment), Teri Weinberg (Executive Producer), and Charlie Cowin (Executive Producer).
This June JHRTS is joining up with local organizations to give back. Select JHRTS Board Members will be judging the "2009 Independent Television Festival" which honors independently produced, original and innovative television pilots and webseries. And on June 14th, JHRTS Members will be joining "Operation Gratitude" at the California Army National Guard Armory to assemble care packages for our troops overseas. Summer is almost here and we're ready for it!
