FEATURED SPEAKERS
Peter Friedlander
Netflix Head of Scripted Series, U.S. and Canada
Peter Friedlander is Head of Scripted Series at Netflix. In this role, he is responsible for setting the strategic direction of original scripted series and licensed scripted content in the United States and Canada. He leads the creative development and production of a rich entertainment slate of programming across drama, spectacle and event, family and young adult, and comedy and stand-up. He also leads the management of first-look and overall deals and creative partnerships with emerging and prolific producers.
Prior to his promotion in 2021, Friedlander oversaw original series focused on spectacle and event programming consisting of prestige dramas and limited series, and elevated science fiction, fantasy and genre entertainment. He and his team were responsible for bringing to life such groundbreaking series as The Queen’s Gambit, Mindhunter, Black Mirror, Narcos and Narcos: Mexico, The Haunting of Hill House, Love, Death and Robots, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, and more.
Joining in 2011 as the first dedicated employee on the Netflix original series team, Friedlander has played an integral and formative role on such defining shows as House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, Godless, Sense8, Marvel’s Daredevil and Wormwood.
Prior to Netflix, Friedlander was an executive at Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone production company for over eight years. He was a producer on their Emmy-nominated drama series Big Love and an executive on many of their feature films. In addition, he produced the indie film A Bag of Hammers that premiered at SXSW. Friedlander began his career working on film productions including Road To Perdition, Austin Powers In Goldmember, and Pieces Of April (Sundance premiere). Raised in Phoenix, Friedlander received a degree in Public Policy at Duke University and studied Urban Planning at UCLA.
Courtney A. Kemp
Creator & Executive Producer, Power Universe Franchise; Founder, End of Episode
Courtney A. Kemp is an Emmy nominated and highly regarded creator, showrunner, writer, and producer who has built her career telling high-stakes stories that are bold, provocative, and character-driven. A pioneering powerhouse, Kemp brings that same passion and creativity to her production company, End of Episode. Known for diverse, multilingual, watercooler, social-media fueled series that packs a serious punch, End of Episode was founded by the multi-hyphenate with the mission of championing the vision and stories of other forward-thinking, underrepresented storytellers.
Kemp is best known as the mind behind STARZ critically acclaimed gritty New York drama, Power, a series that marked her debut as a creator and showrunner and followed the complex character James “Ghost” St. Patrick and his empire. During its 6-season stint on-air, Kemp continued to raise the show’s notoriety as well as its viewership, making it the second-most-watched series on premium cable only after HBO’s Game of Thrones. Following the success of Power, Kemp became the architect of the groundbreaking Power Universe franchise by creating multiple spin-off series that will span over the coming years. The ‘Powerverse’ franchise centers around a single overarching story similar to what has only been done in the realm of movies, rather than following the typical TV franchise format. Kemp has successfully re-written the franchise model by elaborating on the Power story to achieve a broader and deeper exploration of its characters and themes.
Building off the success of Power, Kemp expanded the series into a full cinematic universe. An ambitious elaboration of the Power story that extends both forward and backward in time, the Kemp-built franchise has successfully launched three spin-offs to date: Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force.
Along with an expanding content slate, Kemp and End of Episode have entered into a new multi-year overall deal with Netflix. Marking an exciting new chapter for Kemp and End of Episode, the partnership with Netflix will enable the company to expand its creative footprint with an eye towards a global reach; while also continuing to focus on creating stories about and from women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ voices.
With a commitment to mentorship and amplifying underrepresented voices, Kemp continues to use her platform to champion and create opportunities for greater inclusion within the industry. As part of those efforts, she has held roles at the Producers Guild of America and is currently serves on The Paley Center for Media’s Los Angeles Board of Governors. Kemp has exhibited an extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision through her work, as well as contributed to the medium of television as a content creator. Because of this, she was honored with the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award by NATPE in 2020.
Kemp’s profile continues to flourish and grow as a household name. The Hollywood Reporter has named her one of the top 50 “Power Showrunners” seven years and counting. Variety has listed her on their “Producers Impact Report” and “Variety 500” list for being a staple in the industry by making an impact on the respective television season, named Ad Week’s “TV Creator of the Year” in 2021 and she was included in The Wrap’s “2020 Changemakers” list. In addition, Kemp has been named one of “The 50 Most Influential Women in America” by Marie Claire Magazine, included as one of the female powerhouses on Elle Magazine’s “The Agenda,” and named one of Ebony Magazine’s “Power 100” honorees.
Kemp began her television career as a writer and supervising producer on the celebrated television show The Good Wife, which went on to garner nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and a Writers Guild Award for Dramatic Series. She also worked on ABC’s Eli Stone, and Fox’s Justice and The Bernie Mac Show, among others. Prior to her work in television, Kemp wrote for many prestigious magazines, including GQ, Vibe, and Marie Claire.
John Wells
Writer/Director/Producer
John Wells is one of the most prolific writers, directors and producers in television, film and for the stage. Over the past three decades, Wells has been a creative force behind some of primetime’s biggest hit series, including ER, The West Wing, and Third Watch. He currently serves as executive producer on the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom, which will premiere its sixth and final season this year, and on Showtime’s Emmy®- nominated Shameless, which wrapped its eleventh season on Showtime last year. He previously served as Executive Producer on the critically acclaimed Southland for TNT, the Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning Mildred Pierce for HBO, and the Emmy® and Golden-Globe® winning China Beach. He is executive producer and director on the recent series MAID for NETFLIX.
Shows produced by John Wells have received over 300 Emmy nominations with 65 Emmy wins, and 6 Peabody Awards. During its fifteen-year run, ER earned 124 Emmy nominations, the most in television history. A seven-time Writers Guild Award nominee, in 2007, Wells received the WGA’s prestigious Paddy Chayefsky Television Laurel Award, given to writers who have advanced the literature of television and made outstanding contributions to the profession of television writers. In 2005, Wells was awarded the David Susskind Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America.
Wells also served as President of the Writers Guild of America, West from 2009-2011 and previously served as its President from 1999-2001 and was vital to the success of the 2001 MBA contract negotiations.
He directed Burnt featuring Bradley Cooper, and helmed the acclaimed August: Osage County, based on Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. The film featured an all-star ensemble cast led by Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, and was nominated for two Academy Awards®. Wells also wrote and directed The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper, which was his feature directorial debut. Previous feature production credits include: Carroll Ballard’s acclaimed drama Duma; Peter Kominsky’s White Oleander; Neil Jordan’s The Good Thief; Andrzej Bartkowiak’s Doom; and Michael Mayer’s A Home at the End of the World. Additionally, Wells executive produced Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven and I’m Not There, Mark Romanek’s One Hour Photo, Todd Graff’s Camp, Fenton Bailey’s Party Monster, Robert Altman’s The Company, John Waters’ A Dirty Shame, Mary Harron’s The Notorious Bettie Page, Phyllis Nagy’s Mrs. Harris, Tom Kalin’s Savage Grace, Douglas McGrath’s Infamous and Jordan Scott’s Cracks.
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, and raised in Denver, Colorado, Wells graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and later earned a master’s degree in film and television at the University of Southern California, where he also serves on the school’s Television Executive Advisory Council.
MODERATOR
Michael Schneider
TV Editor, Variety
Michael Schneider has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years, currently as the TV Editor for Variety, where he writes about television programming and the entertainment industry for the publication, produces the “Awards Circuit” podcast and also serves as the magazine’s TV awards analyst.
Additionally, Schneider is a regular contributor to Los Angeles public radio station KCRW, where he hosts “Screengrab,” a weekly segment about the TV industry, regularly appears on the Hollywood-focused radio program “The Business,” and previously hosted the podcast “The Spin-Off.”
Prior to returning full-time to Variety in 2019, Schneider was Executive Editor of IndieWire, where he managed the site’s growing TV team and helped greatly expand its coverage of the industry, and held a dual role as Editor-At-Large for Variety.
Schneider’s work at Variety brings him back to a brand where he previously served as TV Editor for Variety and Daily Variety, a post he held from 1999 through 2011. Before returning to Variety, Schneider was the Chief Content Officer at TV Guide Magazine, the nation’s largest magazine devoted to television, where he also helped launch the website TV Insider. He began his career at the weekly TV trade newspaper Electronic Media (later known as Television Week) in 1995.
As a television expert, Schneider regularly moderates industry panels with execs, showrunners and talent at events including San Diego Comic-Con, PaleyFest, the HRTS, NATPE, PromaxBDA, and countless other events. He has appeared on ABC “World News Tonight” and “Primetime Live,” NBC’s “Today” show and “Dateline NBC,” CBS’ “Early Show,” G4’s “Attack of the Show,” E! News Daily, CNN, MSNBC, “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Insider,” “Access Hollywood,” NPR and many other programs and outlets. He also served as a reality show judge on a Fox Reality Channel show you probably didn’t see.
In his rare spare time, Schneider runs the blog Franklin Avenue, where he writes about Los Angeles media, restaurants, politics and events, and organizes the annual “Great Los Angeles Walk” urban hike through the city, now in its 15th year. He is a Northwestern University graduate and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two boys.