Hollywood Radio and Television Society Elects Industry Leaders From WME, Universal Television, Lionsgate and City National Bank as New Officers

WME’S Marc Korman Elected President of HRTS, With Universal Television’s Pearlena Igbokwe Elected Vice President, Lionsgate’s Chris Selak Secretary and City National Bank’s David Acosta Treasurer 

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 12, 2017 – Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS) has elected industry leaders from WME, Universal Television, Lionsgate and City National Bank as new officers to a two-year voluntary term, beginning in January, 2018. They are: Marc Korman, Partner, WME, who succeeds Eric Schrier, President of Programming, FX Networks and President of FX Productions, as President of HRTS; Pearlena Igbokwe, President, Universal Television, as Vice President, succeeding Korman; Chris Selak, Executive Vice President and Head of Worldwide Scripted Television, Lionsgate, succeeding Christina Davis (Maniac Productions), as Secretary; and David Acosta, SVP & Team Leader, Entertainment Division, City National Bank, remaining as Treasurer. HRTS CEO Melissa Grego announced the new executive slate at HRTS’ Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 12.

“Marc has been a valued member of the HRTS leadership for the last two years as Vice President, and I look forward to working closely with him and Pearlena, Chris, David and the Board of Directors as we continue to build on our great tradition as television and media’s premier networking, education and career development association,” Grego said. “HRTS has for 70 years been fortunate to benefit from the dedication and guidance of our industry’s top leaders who serve as HRTS Officers and Board of Directors on a voluntary basis. I am grateful and excited to work with this stellar group of new officers as we expand membership benefits at this time of great change — and great need for the types of forums HRTS provides best.”

“It’s an honor and privilege to serve as the next President of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society,” Korman said.  “I want to thank Eric for his tremendous work as my predecessor, as well as the HRTS Board and its members for making the Society a vital forum for our community.”

Marc Korman, WME

Marc Korman is a partner in WME’s scripted television department. Korman works closely with television and feature writers, playwrights, and filmmakers to package scripted drama series. Korman has played an integral role in some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed shows of the past two decades including “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” the “Chicago” franchise at NBC, “Law & Order SVU”, “The Young Pope,” “Arrow,” “Riverdale,” “The Get Down,” and the upcoming series “Trust” (FX), “Pose” (FX), “Tell Me a Story” (CBS All Access) and “Sabrina” (Netflix). Korman joined Endeavor as a partner in March 2008 and transitioned to WME following the agency’s merger with William Morris in 2009. He was previously a partner in the television department at United Talent Agency (UTA).

Pearlena Igbokwe, Universal Television

Pearlena Igbokwe was named President of Universal Television in June 2016 and oversees the creative programming for one of the country’s largest and most successful production companies. Some of the programs she currently oversees include comedies “Will & Grace,” “Superstore,” “The Good Place,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Master of None,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and dramas “Chicago Fire” (and its spinoffs) and “Shades of Blue,” among numerous others.  Prior to Universal, Igbokwe spent four years at NBC Entertainment developing hits such as “The Blacklist,” “Blindspot” and “This Is Us.” Prior to NBC Entertainment, Igbokwe spent 20 years at Showtime where she helped develop hit television series such as “Dexter,” “Masters of Sex,” “Nurse Jackie,”  and “The Big C.”

Chris Selak, Lionsgate

As Executive Vice President and Head of Worldwide Scripted Television at Lionsgate, Chris Selak oversees creative development and programming for all scripted television projects around the globe across a wide array of platforms. Selak is a key member of the Lionsgate Television Group management team, helping to lead the Company to a prolific slate that includes “Orange is the New Black” and “Dear White People” for Netflix, ”Nashville” for CMT and “Casual” for Hulu. Selak also spearheads the Lionsgate Television Group’s collaboration with the Lionsgate UK television business led by Lionsgate UK CEO Zygi Kamasa and UK Television Creative Director Steve November. Additionally, her team supplies new premium scripted series to the Starz platform including the recently-announced premium scripted series “The Rook” in collaboration with Liberty Global.  Before joining Lionsgate in 2011, Selak served as Senior Vice President at John Wells Productions where she oversaw programming for “ER” and “The West Wing.” At John Wells Productions, Selak also helped develop the Showtime hit series, “Shameless.”

David Acosta, City National Bank

With over a decade of experience in the entertainment and media finance business, David Acosta, SVP & Team Leader, Entertainment Division, City National Bank, runs the Film, TV and Sports Team in Los Angeles. This entails sourcing and structuring of single and multiple picture film financings, financing for television productions, financings for sports teams and other media businesses. Prior to joining CNB, David worked for Israel Discount Bank of New York, where he was a senior vice president and head of the entertainment, sports and syndicated finance group and head of mid-corporate banking. There, he led a team of bankers who managed relationships with sports and entertainment companies.

ABOUT HRTS

Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) was founded in 1947, as commercial television in Los Angeles began. It is TV and media’s longstanding premier networking, education and career development association. HRTS maintains our rich, 70-year tradition of providing an unparalleled forum for fostering conversation and business relationships and sharing information through regularly scheduled events, initiatives and activities in Los Angeles and New York City, with plans to expand to other cities.

Ever evolving with the fast-changing industry we serve, HRTS works closely with our Corporate and Individual Members across the landscape as well as our esteemed voluntary Board of Directors to identify and address the issues that are most critical to the success and future of TV and media. HRTS’ distinguished Board and our membership are populated by many of the most prominent leaders in our industry, who started as members of HRTS and became Board members and titans of the entertainment and the media worlds. In addition to the flagship Newsmaker Luncheon Series, featuring our industry’s highest-interest speakers, HRTS presents more than 80 member-only events and activities throughout the year. Among them: HRTS Spotlight panel discussions on targeted topics, a thriving mentorship program and peer-level networking events.

HRTS, a non-profit organization, offers membership for individuals at all career stages and companies of all sizes. Our current membership represents more than 1,000 leading TV and media companies.

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