JHRTS had an action packed month of November with a wide variety of successful events around town. We continued our strong panel series this month, partnering with the Hollywood Reporter to host a “Next Generation” panel at CAA. The panel was selected from THR’s 2009 “Top 35 under 35” entertainment executives issue and featured Mike Duffy, SVP of Development and Current at RDF USA, Edwin Chung, VP of Comedy Programming at NBC, Bill McGoldrick, SVP of Original Series at USA, Marissa Devins, TV Lit Agent at UTA, Dana Honor, VP of Comedy Development at 20th TV, Bryan Seabury, VP of Drama Development at CBS and was moderated by Matthew Belloni,
THR Managing Editor, Features. The Ray Kurtzman Theatre was sold out for the second month in a row to hear the lively banter, educational work related anecdotes and words of wisdom from the fastest rising professionals in the entertainment industry. The theatre full of young Hollywooders was at rapt attention as they absorbed the advice from those who are just a few steps ahead of them and left fulfilled from another great JHRTS educational event.
JHRTS continued its effort to connect top industry professionals with our Junior Hollywood member base by hosting a roundtable discussion with Amy Gravit, Head of Comedy Development for HBO and Kathleen McCarthy, CE at HBO. The roundtable setting provides for a much more intimate experience for our members, who are able to engage our executives directly. The event was well attended and proved to be an extremely educational and inspiring evening on the business of comedy development hosted by two friendly and helpful premium cable executives.
Maintaining its commitment to public service, JHRTS’ exec board volunteered to support The Dream Street Foundation’s annual fundraiser. The Dream Street Foundation is a non-profit organization that puts on summer camps for children who live with chronic and life threatening illnesses. The JHRTS board’s presence was very well received and appreciated by the foundation and has been asked again to volunteer next year!
Lastly, JHRTS put on another popular social mixer at Villa this month. Continuing the strong attendance trend these events have seen all month, well over 200 industry professionals packed into the upscale lounge in West Hollywood to mix, network and have a great time relaxing after work. These events also continue to be a great source of membership additions and promotion for our other events, especially for the Holiday Party next month.
JHRTS had an excellent month of November between four extremely successful events and another increase in membership. Membership renewals and new members are flooding in from every event and we feel this is a reflection of the diverse and quality events we provide our membership on an almost weekly basis. We are intensely excited for our annual Holiday Party being held on December 3rd at MyHouse in Hollywood. This year’s party will benefit Feeding America and we have already raised quite a bit of money. It should prove to be an incredible night of partying and giving, a great way to end what has been a very successful 2009 for JHRTS.
Editor's Note: Due to the publishing date, note that the JHRTS Holiday Party was held on December 3rd at My House nightclub in Hollywood and was a great success. Over 600 people attended the party, benefitting Feeding America. Full coverage and photos will be provided in the next edition of Society Views.
