Blumhouse Panel
On Wednesday, April 1st, JHRTS LA hosted a combined film and television panel with Blumhouse Productions at CAA. Among the panelists were Jason Blum, CEO and Founder; Couper Samuelson, President of Feature Film; Jessica Rhoades, Head of Television; Bea Sequeira, Director of Development; Ryan Turek, Director of Development; and Kenny Tsai, Manager of Television. Leading the conversation was writer and good friend of Blumhouse, Robert Ben Garant. With around 100 current JHRTS members in attendance, the group shared their perspective on micro-budget filmmaking and their latest endeavors into micro-budget TV, book anthologies, and the digital space.
Speed Networking
On Thursday, March 19th, 2015 JHRTS LA held a Speed Networking event at The Wellesbourne in West LA. The member only event had a great turn out and attracted just under 100 members. Utilizing color-coded nametags, attendees were able to mix and mingle in a fun, fast and free format. With 5 minutes between every switch, members networked with numerous professionals in a very short period of time.
Inside TV Writing Programs Panel
On Monday, March 9th 2015 at UTA, JHRTS LA hosted the Inside TV Writing Programs Panel. We had panelists from Disney ABC (Emerylnn Lampitoc), CBS (Jeanne Mau), NBCUniversal (Grace Moss), Fox (Gina Reyes), and Nickelodeon (Karen Kirkland) who gave an in-depth look into each of their programs. Topics such as “what the programs entails,” “how to make yourself stand out,” and “how to prepare for the application process” were discussed, with Nic Van Zeebroeck (staff writer on THE LAST SHIP and WBTV Writing Program alumnus), moderating. Nearly one hundred and fifty members and non-members attended the event, and each panelist thoroughly enjoyed participating. Many of them asked to work with JHRTS in the future. Overall, the event was extremely informative and valuable for all who participated.
Online Journalism Panel
The JHRTS LA Online Journalism Panel with Jarret Wieselman of Buzzfeed, Sandra Gonzalez of Mashable, & Dan Fienberg of HitFix resulted in a great conversation about TV criticism within an online platform. The audience was receptive to the discussion and offered up insightful questions during the Q&A portion. Ryan Aguirre, Publicist at AMC, moderated the panel. The ICM theater was a beautiful venue and those who attended seemed truly engaged.
Skybar Mixer
JHRTS LA ended February with one of its most successful mixers that was held poolside at Skybar in West Hollywood. With over 250 attendees, it was a great night of networking and mingling for current members and potential new members.