JUNE 6, 2018 LOS ANGELES, CA – Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS), the entertainment industry’s premier information and networking forum, will host “A Conversation with Ryan Murphy, Moderated by Ronan Farrow” as part of its Newsmaker Luncheon series on a new date, Wednesday, July 18, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, it was announced today by Marc Korman, President of the HRTS Board of Directors and Partner and Agent, WME Entertainment, and HRTS CEO Melissa Grego.
A prolific producer, screenwriter and director, Ryan Murphy is an Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody Award winner. He created numerous groundbreaking and critically acclaimed television shows, including: Nip/Tuck, Glee, anthology series American Horror Story, American Crime Story and FEUD, Scream Queens and 9-1-1. His latest FX series Pose has made history by featuring the largest transgender series regular cast and the largest LGBTQ cast ever for a scripted series. In addition to television, he most recently teamed up with David Stone to produce the Broadway revival of The Boys in the Band, starring Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Andrew Rannells. Murphy wrote and directed the Golden Globe-nominated film Running with Scissors, starring Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the box office hit Eat, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. In 2014, he directed the HBO movie The Normal Heart, which received Emmy and Golden Globe awards including the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie.
Earlier this year, Murphy signed with Netflix what is widely considered to be the biggest TV pact ever, to produce series, films and documentaries. While his deal with Netflix begins July 1, he continues to work on numerous existing shows with his longtime home 20th Century Fox TV.
Ronan Farrow is an investigative journalist who writes for The New Yorker and makes documentaries for HBO. He is the author of the bestselling “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence” and is at work on a new book, “Catch and Kill,” that will explore the sexual misconduct of powerful men and the systems in place to keep victims quiet. Farrow has been an anchor and reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, and his writing has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the George Polk Award, and the National Magazine Award, among other commendations. He is also an attorney and former State Department official.
Farrow’s Pulitzer Prize, for Public Service this year, honored a series of New Yorker articles that helped expose the decades-long sexual predation of the movie producer Harvey Weinstein and the complex system of private investigators, lawyers, and nondisclosure agreements that he used to cover it up.
“Both Murphy and Farrow have arguably influenced the industry more in the last year than anyone else in the past decade. Ryan has the biggest television deal in history and Ronan’s work for the New Yorker helped spark the #MeToo movement,” said Korman, who is also chair of the event. “We are honored that they will be our distinguished guests for the July Newsmaker Luncheon, carrying on the HRTS tradition of fostering conversations on the most important topics with the most accomplished leaders.”
Added Grego: “We are delighted and grateful that our members will have the opportunity to hear from Ryan and Ronan at our next Luncheon. This special event builds on a powerful calendar of timely HRTS events this year, bringing together members of our business community to learn from one another. From our Spotlight on Documentary and Unscripted Content Group event on the Business of Reboots to last month’s Breakfast with the Board at upfronts and the half-day Women of the West conference, we continue to be committed to creating community and sharing knowledge, factors that have never been more important to success in TV and media.”
ABOUT HRTS: Led by a Board of Directors comprising TV and media’s most distinguished leaders and incorporating participation from the top companies across the landscape, Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) is our industry’s longstanding premier non-profit networking, education and career development association. Founded in 1947, as commercial TV in Los Angeles began, HRTS maintains our rich, 70-year tradition of providing an unparalleled forum for fostering conversation and community through regularly scheduled events, a thriving mentorship program and other initiatives in Los Angeles and New York City. HRTS offers Individual Membership for all career stages and Corporate Membership for companies of all sizes. A complete list of HRTS Board Members, Corporate Members and calendar of events may be found at www.hrts.org.
Press Contact: Andrew Davis | The Lippin Group | adavis@lippingroup.com | (323) 965-1990
Pam Golum | The Lippin Group | pgolum@lippingroup.com | (323) 965-1990