You are viewing the archive: “JoAnn Alfano”

Brillstein Taps Robin Schwartz As TV President, Re-Ups Deal With ABC Studios

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 30, 2013 @ 11:30am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, JoAnn Alfano, Robin Shwartz
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Brillstein Entertainment Partners has named former Regency TV president Robin Schwartz as president of its television division. She will replace JoAnn Alfano, who is departing after serving as TV head for the past two years. Alfano will continue to executive produce the new Brillstein/Plan B drama series for ABC, Resurrection.

Brillstein’s TV unit has signed a new two-year overall deal with ABC Studios where it has been based for the past decade. The new pact has a first-look component. “We are grateful for the continued support of our friends at ABC Studios and excited about our new first-look arrangement,” Brillstein Entertainment CEO Jon Liebman said. “Robin Schwartz is a terrific executive and her broad experience and talent relationships make her an excellent choice to lead and build our television group. We are happy for JoAnn, who is a great friend, and we are looking forward to working with her in the next chapter of her career.”

Schwartz has a background as a network and studio executive and a writer. She started off as VP Primetime Series and Children’s Programming for NBC and also served as VP Programming at ABC Family, where she played a key role in the rebranding of the cable channel following its purchase by Disney. Schwartz was named president of Regency TV in 2004 and ran the studio until it closed in 2007. She went on to become the first president of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which she departed in one of a series of executive shake-ups during the network’s uncertain early years. At OWN, she established the structure for the start-up cable network. READ MORE »

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ABC To Order Family Comedy Pilot Starring Kirstie Alley

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday August 3, 2011 @ 11:32am PDTTags: Aaron Kaplan, ABC, ABC Studios, Brillstein Entertainment, comedy pilot, Dancing With The Stars, Dave Flebotte, JoAnn Alfano, Kirstie Alley, Marco Pennette, The Manzanis
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Following her memorable run on Dancing With the Stars last spring, Kirstie Alley is returning to ABC as the star of a new comedy project. I’ve learned that ABC is finalizing the deals for a pilot order to The Manzanis, a multi-camera family comedy written by sitcom veterans Marco Pennette and Dave Flebotte, with Alley attached to star. ABC Studios and studio-based Brillstein Entertainment are producing. The sitcom is described as a new take on Roseanne, and stars Alley as a very opinionated wife/mother who, along with her family, the Manzanis, moves to repressed country-club town. Pennette and Flebotte are executive producing with Brillstein’s new TV president JoAnn Alfano. Also expected to executive produce are Aaron Kaplan (Good Christian Belles) and Alley’s manager Jason Weinberg. Read More »

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JoAnn Alfano To Run Brillstein Entertainment’s Television Division

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 8, 2011 @ 2:30pm PDTTags: Brillstein Entertainment Partners, JoAnn Alfano, Lifetime
Nellie Andreeva

Brillstein Entertainment Partners has tapped former Lifetime head of development JoAnn Alfano as new President of Television. She will succeed Peter Traugott, who is leaving after 15 years at Brillstein to launch his own production company, which will be based … Read More »

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EVP JoAnn Alfano Leaves Lifetime

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday March 4, 2011 @ 4:06pm PSTTags: JoAnn Alfano, Lifetime, Nancy Dubuc
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime’s head of development, EVP entertainment JoAnn Alfano, is leaving the female-centered cable network effective immediately. For the time being, Lifetime president and general manger Nancy Dubuc will oversee the network’s development, with SVP series programming Nina Lederman and … Read More »

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TCA: Lifetime To Pick Up 2 New Drama Series As Part Of Originals Ramp-Up

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 7, 2011 @ 12:24pm PSTTags: Cable TV, JoAnn Alfano, Lifetime, Lifetime Pilot, Nancy Dubuc, TCA, Television Critics Association, TV

From Ray Richmond, who is contributing to Deadline Hollywood’s TCA Coverage:

Lifetime plans to double its on-air drama series output in 2011 from two to four, the network’s new president and GM Nancy Dubuc said this morning during the network’s portion of TCA. That includes the pickup to series of two of the network’s five pilots ordered last year (four of them have already been shot). Lifetime brass will make the decision on which two will go to series by February, the network’s EVP JoAnn Alfano said. The two new series will premiere by fourth quarter 2011, along with the returns of vets Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva. The network also is launching a dozen new unscripted series this year, with the rollout beginning in February, along with 15 original films. “We’re committed to expanding our original programming in a major way,” Alfano said. “This is only the beginning.” Here is a list of Lifetime’s upcoming reality series, Seriously Funny Kids, One Born Every Minute, Quad Squad and Glamour Belles, whose premiere dates were announced today: Read More »

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Discovery Channel’s Gena McCarthy Becomes Lifetime’s New Head Of Reality

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday June 22, 2010 @ 12:51pm PDTTags: Cable TV, Development, JoAnn Alfano, Lifetime, Nancy Dubuc, Production, Reality TV, Unscripted TV
Nellie Andreeva

Gena McCarthyGena McCarthy has joined Lifetime as SVP reality & alternative programming. McCarthy will start on July 6, overseeing the development and production of unscripted series for the female-centered cable network and reporting to JoAnn Alfano, EVP entertainment. The top reality post at Lifetime has been vacant since the departure of Jessica Samet late last year. Lifetime has ventured into unscripted programming before, most notably with the acquisition of Project Runway under former CEO Andrea Wong. While scripted series will continue to be the focus, Lifetime’s reality portfolio is expected to grow under new president/GM Nancy Dubuc, who also runs the docu-driven History Channel. Read More »

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