HRTS VIRTUAL – Brown Bag with the Board: A View From Across the Pond, 5/29

Wachtel oversees all aspects of television development, production and strategic content partnerships for NBCUniversal International Studios and its award-winning portfolio, which comprises: Carnival Films, creator of worldwide phenomenon “Downton Abbey”, Netflix series “The Last Kingdom” and hit drama “Belgravia” for ITV and EPIX; Monkey Kingdom, producer of BAFTA-winning “Made in Chelsea” and reality ITVBe hit, “The Real Housewives of Cheshire” and ITV2 hip hop comedy show “Don’t Hate The Playaz”; and Australian-based Matchbox Pictures, producer of critically-acclaimed drama series “Stateless”, “Glitch”, “The Slap”, “Safe Harbour” and upcoming drama “Clickbait”. Alongside its solely-owned labels, the business also operates joint production ventures with Working Title Television (“Tales of The City”, “The Luminaries” and “Lady Parts”) and Heyday Television (“The Lon Song”, “The Capture” and “Clickbait”), and owns an equity stake in LARK Productions (“Fortunate Son”) in Canada.

Providing strategic oversight, Wachtel also oversees International Studios’ LA and UK based Scripted unit, which comprises the television remake “Hanna” for Amazon Prime Video. Season two of the hit series is set to launch globally on July 3rd.

Wachtel joined International Studios from NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, where he was previously Chief Content Officer. In this role, he spearheaded NBCUniversal’s Cable portfolio and under his leadership, the studios enjoyed notable success with award-winning series such as “Mr. Robot”, “The Sinner” and “Suits” at USA, the critically-acclaimed “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” (Bravo’s first scripted series), the hit series “The Magicians” and “12 Monkeys” at Syfy, and “Difficult People”, an original series for Hulu.

Prior to this, for over a decade, Wachtel was Co-President of USA, where he was responsible for original programming. During his tenure, the network boasted seven consecutive years as the #1 cable entertainment network, with an unprecedented run of successful series and mini-series launched including “Monk”, “Burn Notice”, “The 4400”, “Covert Affairs”, “Psych”, “The Starter Wife”, “Royal Pains”, “White Collar” and “Suits”. Prior to joining USA, Wachtel served in several leadership roles including President of Canada’s leading program supplier, Alliance Atlantis Television; President of 3 Arts Television; and Executive Vice President of primetime TV at Columbia Pictures Television, where he developed and supervised a number of long-running hit shows, such as “Party of Five” and “Dawson’s Creek”.

A graduate of Yale University, Wachtel began his career as a theater director and producer, producing the first New York productions of David Mamet’s plays “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” and “Duck Variations”.

Wachtel is an avid mentor and teaches a producing class at the American Film Institute. He is also a founding member of L.A. Works, a community-based volunteer organization, a member of the President’s Advisory Board of the Zimmer Children’s Museum and a board member of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS).

Notable successes include:

• Creative development and global sales of 53-episode TV series SHADOWHUNTERS,
• Serving as chief content officer at StarzPlay Arabia during its start-up phase, and
• Achieving record TV sales for the 30th anniversary edition of the classic feature film BLADE RUNNER.

From February 2016 through September 2019, Marenzi served as Head of Entertainment Sales & Partnerships for ENDEAVOR CONTENT (formerly IMG Entertainment), where he created a distribution unit that handled quality scripted and non-scripted entertainment product in global home media markets. Marenzi collaborated across Endeavor business units and with producers of premium content to develop, acquire and deliver quality programming to broadcasters, digital platforms (e.g., Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney+, etc.) and other programming services worldwide. Based in both Beverly Hills and London, Marenzi supervised entertainment sales activity across 30 regional offices spread throughout the globe. Notable successes under Marenzi’s tenure include launching global sales for THE NIGHT MANAGER, KILLING EVE, THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL, and THE AGATHA CHRISTIE MINI-SERIES.

From 2007 until mid-2011, Marenzi served as President of the Worldwide Television Group for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). His duties there included overseeing the distribution of MGM’s films and television programs to television and digital media outlets, the creative development and production of new television programs (including successful series TEEN WOLF and VIKINGS), and the management of MGM’s television channels worldwide. He also was a member of MGM’s senior management “Green Light” Committee, which approved all new feature film production.

Previously, Marenzi was President of International Television for Paramount Pictures for seven years. During his tenure with Paramount, Mr. Marenzi generated several billion dollars in license fee revenue for Paramount feature films, TV programming and formats with TV broadcasters and cable channels outside the U.S. He also oversaw Paramount’s TV co-production/co-financing operations that yielded USA Network’s hits, THE DEAD ZONE and THE 4400.

Between 1992 and 1997, Mr. Marenzi recorded his first tour of duty at MGM as President of the MGM Telecommunications Group, where he was responsible for all of MGM’s international television and worldwide pay television business activities. Before MGM, Mr. Marenzi was President of the UIP Pay TV Group based in London for three years. In the early portion of his career, Mr. Marenzi laid a foundation for his experience in television with roles at Skouras Pictures, Inc., The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Warner Home Video, Columbia Pictures, and HBO.

Mr. Marenzi currently serves on the Board of the Hollywood Radio & TV Society (HRTS), and is a past Executive Committee/Board Member of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) and the Executive Committee/Board of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS).

Mr. Marenzi received both his BA and MBA from Stanford University.

Under Neame’s leadership, Carnival became the UK’s biggest drama specialist, producing numerous popular and critically well received shows, including The Last Kingdom, Jamestown, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, BAFTA award winning mini-series The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies and Any Human Heart, which won in 2015 and 2011 respectively. Neame also Executive Produced David Hare’s political thriller trilogy Page Eight as well as The Hollow Crown, a screen version of Shakespeare’s history plays for the BBC, with an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch. The company produced the popular ITV crime series Whitechapel and two US series Dracula, starring Jonathan Rhys Myers, and The Philanthropist, starring James Purefoy, both for NBC. Over the years the company has produced many hours of popular and well-loved series such as Hotel Babylon, Rosemary & Thyme, Poirot, As if and Jeeves & Wooster, and iconic mini-series such as C4’s Traffik. Current TV series include the fourth season of The Last Kingdom for Netflix and Belgravia for ITV and Epix. Neame is presently executive producing The Gilded Age for HBO.

Prior to joining the company, Neame had a successful career as Head of Drama at the BBC and was instrumental in the significant growth of the independent production sector, responsible for the development and production of a range of innovative, award-winning and popular shows such as Spooks [MI5], Bodies, State of Play, Outlaws, Hustle, New Tricks, Tipping the Velvet, Conviction and Clocking Off.

Gareth Neame represents the fourth generation of a remarkable dynasty that has made a significant contribution to the world of cinema and television over the past century. His great-grandparents were the society photographer and pioneer filmmaker Elwin Neame (1885-1923) and the film actress Ivy Close (1890-1968) described by The Daily Mirror as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’. His grandfather was the celebrated director, producer, cinematographer and writer Ronald Neame CBE (1911-2010), his great-uncle was the author and screenwriter Derek Neame (1915-1979) and his father was the producer and writer Christopher Elwin Neame (1942-2011). He was educated at Seaford College in West Sussex [School Captain 1984-85] and read English and Drama at the University of Birmingham.

Neame served on The Council of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts from 2004-06, and has been interviewed for the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television. He has been listed in the Variety 500 index of most influential business leaders in the global entertainment industry.
In December 2014 Neame was announced by No.10 Downing Street as an Ambassador of the GREAT Britain campaign and has represented the UK at trade and cultural events in the US, Brazil, Hungary, Hong Kong and China.

Neame was appointed O.B.E. in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Neame is a Life Patron of The Landmark Trust and through his charitable foundation supports many causes including Together for Short Lives, music and drama scholarships, youth organisations, the arts and heritage and veterans charities.

All3Media’s recent productions span scripted, factual, entertainment, children’s, sports and digital content and include Fleabag, Gogglebox, 1917, Call The Midwife, The Circle, Race Across the World, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, Hollyoaks, Drowning in Plastic, Free Rein and Three Identical Strangers.

All3Media International, the Group’s distribution division, sells a catalogue of over 15,000 hours of content across all genres to more than 1,000 broadcasters and platforms worldwide, and has consistently been voted the UK’s best distributor in an annual peer poll.

Jane joined All3Media in 2008 as deputy COO, becoming COO in 2011. She has held the positions of Director of Commercial and Business Affairs and Director of Business Affairs at ITV Studios and then ITV Network, as well as various roles at Granada Television, United Productions, and Meridian Broadcasting.

Jane is Chair of the Royal Television Society and sits on the Edinburgh TV Festival board.