HRTS’ Women of the West Fall 2018 Reunion Speakers

Ms. Berman is one of the few media executives to hold the top posts at both a major film studio and a broadcast television network. She was named President of Paramount Pictures in March 2005. Before joining Paramount, Ms. Berman served from 2000 to 2005 as President of Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company. She took the network to the top of the ratings for the first time in its history, developing gigantic hits such as American Idol, 24, House, Arrested Development, Bones, and Family Guy.

Prior to Fox, Ms. Berman served as founding President of Regency Television, the TV studio created in 1998 as a co-venture between Fox Television Studios and New Regency Productions. Under
Berman, Regency Television quickly grew into one of the most prolific and respected suppliers of TV entertainment programming, including the primetime hit Malcolm in the Middle. Earlier, as
President and CEO of Sandollar Television, Berman served as executive producer on the global hit shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. She has produced over 300 episodes of television.
Most recently, Ms. Berman spent seven years as co-founder and co-owner of the media company BermanBraun, which became an innovator in the digital arena, creating and operating some of the
most successful online brands in categories including celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle. The company’s properties have also included numerous successful reality and scripted programs, and
live-action and animated film projects.

Berman began her career as a theater producer after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of Maryland. At 23, she co-produced her first Broadway show, the original
Broadway production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which went on to garner seven Tony Award nominations. Berman’s other Broadway productions include “Hurlyburly” by David Rabe (1984), Athol Fugard’s “Blood Knot” (1985), and “The Nerd” by Larry Shue (1987), all of which received Tony Award nominations.

In 2003, Berman was named to FORTUNE Magazine’s list of “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business” (#25). That same year, she received the coveted “Lucy” award, recognizing “women who have revolutionized the television industry” from Women in Film. In 2004, she was named to FORBES Magazine’s list of “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” (#49), reappeared on the FORTUNE list (#25), and received the inaugural Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award from the National Association of Television Production Executives (NATPE). Berman was also awarded “Executive of the Year” (2004) by the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors in January 2005. In 2006, Berman became a Paley Center for Media “She Made It” honoree.

Berman serves on the Board of Directors of the Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles’ preeminent non-profit theatre company which oversees the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and
the Kirk Douglas Theatre. In June 2018 Berman was elected Co-President of the Producers Guild of America, alongside Lucy Fisher. Prior to her election, Berman served on the PGA’s National
Board of Directors and on the Producers Guild of America’s Board of Delegates for two years.

HRTS maintains a 70-year tradition of providing an unparalleled forum for fostering conversation and community through regularly scheduled member events, a thriving mentorship program and other initiatives in Los Angeles and New York City. Upon her appointment in October 2017, Grego became the first female executive to lead the non-profit organization.

Prior to HRTS, Grego parlayed her network and knowledge as a media business journalist to launch her consulting practice, Melinc, where she executive produced such future-focused industry conferences as Next TV Summit and TV Data Summit, as well as the ‘Keynotes & Cocktails: Women of the West’ and ‘Women of NY’ conferences she founded.

Among her journalism roles, Grego was the first female Editor-in-Chief of the TV industry publication Broadcasting & Cable.

Grego also has held editorial leadership positions at The Hollywood Reporter and TVWeek and was a staff reporter covering TV at Variety.

Grego has provided expert commentary for a variety of news outlets including: CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News Channel and was also a special correspondent for the entertainment news program “Extra.” She has lectured at UCLA and University of Southern California and regularly moderates panels and Q&As with TV and media industry figures around the world. 

Instrumental in building, and later overseeing, a $5 billion content-distribution business, she helped to firmly establish some of the most highly rated and valuable network assets in history. Included among the company’s top one percent of senior executives, Ms. Baker was at the forefront of a wide range of strategic initiatives, from expanding coverage of the Olympic Games to creating Hulu.

In 2008, her division contributed the largest consolidated operating profit at the company. Ms. Baker played a key role in nearly $50 billion of acquisitions from 2002 – 2013 following Comcast’s integration of NBCU. In addition, her parent company, General Electric, tapped her to develop the first-ever corporate Women’s Network affinity group in 2006.

In 2013, Ms. Baker was the first and only woman named to the board of directors of GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications company. GCI serves business and residential customers in some of the most remote communities and challenging conditions in North America. Earlier this year, GCI completed a $1.5 billion merger with John Malone’s Liberty Interactive to form GCI LIBERTY (Nasdaq: GLIBA). During the year-long diligence process and deal transaction, Ms. Baker was one of three board members appointed to a committee charged with the crucial and sensitive task of representing shareholders’ interests. Ms. Baker was also pivotal in creating the GCI Women’s Network, the company’s first-ever employee resource group.

Serving as a trustee of her alma mater, Pitzer College, she was honored in 2010 with the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award. As the sole woman inducted to the Cable TV Pioneers
Association in 2008, she was also awarded NCTA’s Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership, considered the cable industry’s highest honor, four years later.

Ms. Baker’s roots are in Alaska and she was proud to begin her professional life as an aide on Capitol Hill to the late US Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Currently, she serves on the board of
the Ted Stevens Foundation, among other nonprofit education and women’s advocacy boards.

During her tenure at Discovery Communications’ flagship network, Discovery Channel, Goldberg created the partnership between Discovery’s #1 franchise, SHARK WEEK, and ABC News’ Good Morning America, which started in 2013, and each year has included daily SHARK WEEK segments on television’s #1 morning show, GMA, during SHARK WEEK, which year after year has resulted in the most watched and highest rated Shark Week in the event’s 27 year history. Other programs Goldberg has overseen on Discovery include, SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA, THE PRESIDENTS’ GATEKEEPERS, FROZEN PLANET, SKYWIRE WITH NIK WALLENDA, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN REVISITED, AMISH MAFIA, RIVAL SURVIVAL and Discovery’s first ever scripted series, KLONDIKE, which was hailed by The Hollywood Reporter as “…a seriously impressive leap into the scripted world by Discovery.”

Previously, Goldberg served as EVP of Public Relations for Discovery Channel, TLC and Discovery Fit & Health where she was responsible for all strategic communications efforts across the three networks. Since first joining TLC in 2007, she was instrumental in turning the network into a pop culture phenomenon, overseeing publicity efforts and communications strategy for all network programming. Goldberg played an integral part in making JON AND KATE PLUS 8 a household name, and took SISTER WIVES, the SAY YES TO THE DRESS franchise, 19 KIDS AND COUNTING, THE LITTLE COUPLE, BREAKING AMISH and SARAH PALIN’S ALASKA to new ratings highs through key press placements across a broad range of platforms that included Ellen, The Tonight Show, TODAY, Good Morning America, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and more than one dozen PEOPLE magazine covers, among others.

During her tenure with Discovery Communications, Goldberg has overseen crisis management efforts that have allowed her to forge close relationships with series talent, a unique style that was recognized by The New York Times. The newspaper reported the following in a 2012 profile of Goldberg: “Ms. Goldberg forges close friendships with the cast members of TV shows…and guides them through the glare of the press. Despite all its controversial shows, TLC’s brand has remained mostly unblemished…in part because while Ms. Goldberg is genial and helpful with reporters off the record, she routinely doles out no-comments to them on the record, thereby refusing to make big stories bigger.” Before joining Discovery, Goldberg was with Turner Broadcasting System where she oversaw press for two different networks, CNN and Cartoon Network. While at CNN, Goldberg oversaw public relations for all of the CNN news networks and businesses including CNN/U.S., CNN Headline News and CNN.com. She also served as chief spokesperson to the media and as a key advisor on communications and strategy issues. Her accomplishments at CNN included successfully developing and executing public relations campaigns in support of CNN’s breaking news and other coverage of events that included Hurricane Katrina; and key network talent such as Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour and Wolf Blitzer. She also oversaw the launches of both the new Headline News Prime Time line-up and CNN.com.

Prior to CNN, Goldberg served as Senior Vice President of Public Relations at Cartoon Network. While there, she created and executed successful communications campaigns advancing signature original programming, including the hugely popular Adult Swim block, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars, produced by Cartoon Network Productions and Lucasfilm, Ltd, as well as new network and online business ventures.

Goldberg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. She has completed advanced study at the Center for Creative Leadership, and is a fellow of the Women in Cable & Telecommunications’ Betsy Magness Leadership Institute. She was born and raised in Baltimore and is an avid hiker, animal lover and a major Baltimore Orioles fan. 

She won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Play 2012 for THE KID THING. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University. She is the co-writer of the feature 10 AKER WOOD with Jill Soloway which Soloway will also direct. She currently is a Co-Executive Producer on the FX television show BETTER THINGS. 

Harper joined Starz in 2005, as part of the newly formed live action department for the studio. Harper went on to produce features for Starz’ Home Entertainment division, Anchor Bay Films. Harper became the Vice President of Production in 2011 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Production in 2013. As the Head of Production, Harper now oversees all scripted and unscripted production, post production, production finance, safety, and transportation.

Harper is proud to be a fifth-generation Californian, mother of two boys, and a graduate of Northwestern University. 

Hodge returns to HBO after initially working at the company in 2009 as an executive assistant to president of Programming. She left HBO in 2011 to work under producer Jane Tranter at BBC Worldwide Productions. She was named manager, Development in 2012, and in 2013, she was promoted to director, Development. In her four years at BBCWP, Amy co-produced all three seasons of Getting On for HBO, Us & Them for Fox, and Intruders for BBC America/BBC 2. In 2015, Hodge joined Tranter at her new transatlantic production company, Bad Wolf Ltd, as vice president, Development. In this role, she oversaw the company’s First Look deal with HBO. Most recently she co-produced Succession.

Hodge graduated from University of Michigan with a BA in English Literature.

 Papon previously was Head of Development and Production for Martin Campbell Productions, where she launched the company’s television division based at ABC Studios, co-executive produced series Killer Women (ABC). She had previously worked at the company as their VP of Production and Development for film and television. Her film credits include Co-Producer on Edge of Darkness and Co-Producer on Green Lantern. For her work, Papon has been appointed an Exceptional Women Awardee (EWA) by the Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation (May 2018). She was the first recipient of the Producer’s Guild Debra Hill Fellowship (2005) and currently serves as an active member of the fellowship’s selection committee. Papon is a teacher for UCLA’s Department of Film, TV and Digital Media Summer Institute as well as an MFA thesis advisor. She graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and she holds an MFA from the Producer’s Program at UCLA’s School of Film, Television and Digital Media. Papon resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and their two boys.

Petteway is responsible for identifying and developing multi-platform brand partnership opportunities for Endemol Shine North America’s hit properties including MasterChef (FOX), MasterChef Junior (FOX), MasterChef Latino (Telemundo), Fear Factor (MTV), Page Six TV (Syndicated) and upcoming revival of Deal or No Deal (CNBC).

Prior to joining Endemol Shine North America, Petteway had served as Vice President, Partnership Marketing and Development at Universal Music Group since June 2014. Petteway identified new ways to create innovative partnerships between UMG and global brands, while building strategic programs and integrated marketing campaigns that leveraged UMG’s assets, iconic label groups and roster of artists.

Before joining Universal Music Group, Petteway spent eight years at CORE Media’s 19 Entertainment, including Vice President, Brand Partnerships. There she oversaw development, production and the execution of branded partnerships, marketing integrations and sponsorships across 19 Entertainment’s properties with a focus on top musical artists and leading TV shows including American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

Petteway has developed unique content-based brand programs for partners including Kellogg’s, Marriott, Unilever, Sony, Johnson & Johnson, and PepsiCo, with one program recently winning a 2015 gold SABRE Award.

Petteway holds a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree in Marketing from Loyola Marymount University and currently resides in Los Angeles.

A seasoned journalist, Anne was managing editor of the Sun Sentinel overseeing content on all platforms when the newsroom won its first Pulitzer Prize, the 2013 Gold Medal for Public Service. During her tenure, she orchestrated sweeping culture change to reinvent the newsroom for the 21st Century. Media executives across the globe continue to seek her counsel on newsroom change management.

Born and raised in Miami to Cuban immigrants, Anne began her career as a reporter at The Miami Herald and the San Jose Mercury News. She is a board member of the American Society of News Editors and serves on the leadership council of the Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. Anne has been a passionate champion of diversity and inclusion in media, early in her career as the editor of one of the country’s first race & demographic teams and later as an executive. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children and beagle. 

A veteran TV showrunner with nearly two decades of experience, Vaughan has been tapped regularly to consult for a broad range of crime-related programming, providing both creative and legal insights. She was integral to the conception and creation of Oxygen and TNT series Cold Justice and Cold Justice: Sex Crimes, serving as executive producer alongside prolific and award-winning writer, producer and director Dick Wolf. The series’ compelling content solved numerous homicide and sexual assault cases, with many perpetrators ultimately convicted of crimes in cases that had previously gone cold, often for generations. Vaughan also produced the critically acclaimed documentary series Beyond the Glory for Fox Sports; other producing credits include ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, CBS’s Hunted and Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker. 

  Shea is also the Co-Founder/CEO of WBTVN and Women On TV, the first OTT online TV network with original content created for women with an audience outreach of over 30 million and growing through, ROKU, AppleTV, Google Play, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and more.