Title: Landing and Negotiating TV Deals
Date: Wednesday, November 9th
Time: Doors open at 6pm, panel starts at 7pm
Venue: Pottery Barn Beverly Hills
300 N. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, Ca 90210
Big SMARTY Members: FREE
Little SMARTY Members: $25
Guests: $35

In a city where everyone seems to be in talks with production companies, networks, agents and managers, how do you REALLY get a TV deal? How do you develop a reality show? How do you become the next Giada DeLaurentis, Rachel Zoe or Jillian Michaels? Do you own any of the content? How much can you expect to be paid? What about the digital side? How does licensing work if you do get a show?

Come ask questions. Come get answers.

Panelists:

Jillian St. Charles, Vice President, HGTV.com
Anne Thornton, pastry chef and host Dessert First with Anne Thornton on the Food Network
Nely Galán, former president of Telemundo Network, creator of The Swan and also appreared on Celebrity Apprentice
Sid Kaufman, Branding and Licensing Agent for the NY based talent agency N.S. Bienstock, Inc

About Jillian St. Charles:
Jillian St. Charles is vice president of HGTV.com, the #1 shelter site.  She oversees the creation of original and network-centric content, as well as the development of partnerships within the design, shelter and digital industries. HGTV.com receives more than 5 million visitors a month, who demonstrate industry-leading levels of engagement with its content.

St. Charles began her career with CNN in Atlanta, where she produced one of the network’s highest-rated and longest-running shows, TalkBack Live.  She received an Emmy Award for the network’s coverage of the events of September 11^th.  Most recently, St. Charles was online director of the Redbookmag.com, where she had digital oversight of one of Hearst’s oldest and most well-known brands.  She previously held programming positions with AOL, developing editorial vision for some of the industry’s highest-trafficked women’s/lifestyle Web areas.

About Anne Thornton
As an expert pastry chef, Anne Thornton shares indulgent recipes for tantalizing treats on her “In the Kitchen” Food Network cooking series, Dessert First With Anne Thornton. Anne demystifies and simplifies the world of pastry and dessert by showing viewers the ins and outs to no-fear baking. From flaky pastries to ice cream cake, Anne’s approachable techniques prove that any home cook can create impressive desserts.

Born in San Antonio and raised in Cleveland, Anne fell in love with food at a very young age while traveling throughout Europe with her family. She spent many childhood days in the kitchen alongside her grandmother, Nonnie, who she credits as her true culinary inspiration and where she gets her passion for baking. At age eight, Anne successfully made her first pie crust, and by college, she served up Sunday supper every week to her friends on the football team.

Anne graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with degrees in finance and philosophy. Shortly after college, she lived in California, and then Chicago while working for Apple Computer, Inc. Anne left Chicago and moved to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. Soon after enrolling in the Institute of Culinary Education, Anne landed a job in culinary production where she gained behind-the-scenes media skills — a glimpse into her future at Food Network. Anne also worked as a personal chef before joining New York’s highly acclaimed restaurant, The Waverly Inn in 2006, where she honed her skills as a pastry chef and assistant general manager working under notable chef John DeLucie. In 2009, Anne made the move to the exclusive New York restaurant, Hotel Griffou, where she worked as executive pastry chef and event coordinator until June 2010.

In her spare time, Anne volunteers for City Harvest’s Operation Frontline, a nutrition education and financial planning program, and also writes for LunchNYC, a project that brings nutritional information to families about their kid’s school lunches and how they can improve their diets. Besides cooking and baking, Anne enjoys sailing, writing, football, fashion, interior design and visiting organic farms. Anne currently lives in New York City.

About Nely Galán
Latina media dynamo Nely Galán - dubbed the "Tropical Tycoon" by The New York Times Magazine is one of the entertainment industry’s savviest firebrand talents - bringing her considerable expertise to full effect as a successful producer and entrepreneur; a galvanizing powerbroker in the Latino world; and a female empowerment and motivational speaker. Galán, a former President of the powerhouse Telemundo network, has owned and operated her own media company since 1994. Her company has launched 10 groundbreaking television channels in Latin America, and has also produced a staggering 600 episodes of programming that crosses all genres - from reality series to sitcoms, telenovelas to talk shows, in both English and Spanish. Galán was also responsible for creating and executive producing the smash FOX reality hit "The Swan", and as its in-house life coach, wrote the bestselling companion book "The Swan Curriculum". "The Swan" has aired in over 70 countries around the world, and was famously spoofed by the Olsen Twins and Tina Fey on "Saturday Night Live".

Recently Galán appeared on the NBC hit "The Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump" joining an all-star cast including Gene Simmons, Nadia Comaneci, Marilu Henner and the infamous Omarosa. Galán’s appearance on the show, where she raised $250,000 for her charity COUNT ME IN, furthered her reputation as one of the nation’s top female moguls.

In her role as public speaker, Galán routinely draws rave reviews for her mesmerizing presentations on the Latino market, entrepreneurship and female empowerment. She is also frequently cited for her influential work outside the industry as a board member for Count Me In (the leading national non-profit provider for women entrepreneurs) and The Smithsonian Institute.

As a part of her multi-platform business, Galán has recently launched two web sites targeting women: msmogul.com - a forum for female entrepreneurs aimed at providing support and sharing resources, and thenewyoutv.com - dedicated to the health, wellness, and beauty issues of women. She also frequently appears as a guest expert on "The Today Show" and "The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch".

Galán embarked on her career in entertainment at age 22 when she was named the nation’s youngest station manager for WNJU TV Channel 47 in New York. Owned by Jerry Perenchio and Norman Lear, the station became the launch pad for what is now the Telemundo Network.

In 1992, Galán continued her trajectory, forming "Tropix", a joint venture with HBO that developed Latino content for cable. Under the "Tropix" umbrella, Galán also served as a consultant to HBO and Time Warner on its Latin strategy in the U.S. and Latin America. In this two-year venture, Galán created multiple shows and helped launch HBO Olé, the cable giant’s Latin American channel.

Galán entered into an unprecedented deal with Fox Corporation and Rupert Murdoch in 1994, creating content for the Fox network and helping Fox launch numerous channels in Latin America including: Canal Fox, Fox Kids, Fox Sports, and Sky Latin America. With the mandate to create multi-platform content specializing in the Latino market, she officially started her company, Galan Entertainment, branching out to launch networks for the likes of HBO, ESPN, MGM, Sony and TCI.

Of course, her work didn’t stop there: she created an award-winning marketing division for American companies targeting Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America. While at Fox, she also produced "The Alma Awards" (honoring outstanding Latino talent) and pioneered "Crystal Empire" - the first telenovela produced simultaneously in English and Spanish for Fox and Mexico’s television network, Televisa.

In 1998, Sony tapped Galán as their President of Entertainment for Telemundo - becoming the first Latina to hold this office at a major network. Three years later, NBC purchased Telemundo and Galan Entertainment was awarded a development deal that produced the hit Latino sitcoms "Los Beltran", "Viva Vegas", and "Solo en America". Galán also created and produced the internationally-acclaimed, popular daytime talk show "Father Albert", and the hit reality series "La Cenicienta" and "El Principe Azul".

In the wake of two successful seasons of "The Swan" (averaging 10 million viewers a week) Galán’s involvement as both the show’s creator and in-house life coach prompted her to forge strategic alliances with the nation’s premier doctors and experts, along with renowned self-help contributors. Her launch of thenewyoutv.com logically built upon her "Swan" experience, and is further incubating the multi-platform brand to include a television show, the web site, and an event and merchandising business.

Galán’s latest venture, Ms. Mogul, harnesses her passion for helping women create their own businesses to garner financial independence and wealth. Her msmogul.com web site is also being developed as a multi-platform brand.

Galán, the original "Ms. Mogul", is also a devoted single mom to her 8 year old son. Based in Venice, California, she also spends a lot of time in New York, Miami and Santa Fe.

About Sid Kaufman
Sid Kaufman is a 30-year veteran of the licensing industry whose experience covers a wide variety of property types (Brands, Characters, Celebrity, Music, TV and Feature Film) and product categories (Fashion Apparel, Interactive, Toy, Direct-to-Retail, Packaged Goods and Fast Food Promotions). Sid works with small, unknown brands and personalities as well as established television stars.

Sid provides licensing and brand development services as well as sponsorships, endorsements, and product/broadcast integration. He acquires rights for merchandising representation and leverages his existing relationships with retailers and consumer products companies to explore non-scripted programming opportunities.

Sid is currently a Branding and Licensing Agent for the N.Y.-based talent agency N.S. Bienstock, Inc.  For more than 45 years, N.S. Bienstock, Inc. has set the pace as the leading talent agency in reality-based programming and news for both television and radio. Some of N.S. Bienstock, Inc.’s clients include: Entertainment Tonight, TMZ, Access Hollywood, The Dr. Phil Show, The People's Court, Power of 10 and The Rachel Ray Show, just to name a few.

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