Media Industry Conversations Podcast RTFMIC

This week's guest is Patrick Schumacker, who visited UT on April 1, 2024. Patrick is an Emmy-nominated Creator, Showrunner and Executive Producer at Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions, which he runs with his writing partner Justin Halpern with an overall deal at Warner Bros Television. Patrick is Executive Producer and Co-showrunner on the Emmy Award-winning hit series Abbott Elementary with Quinta Brunson, and also showruns Max’s five-season animated series Harley Quinn. Patrick has also been a writer-producer on TV series such as iZombie, Cougar Town, and How to be a Gentleman.

Patrick Schumacker sat down with Dr. Alisa Perren to discuss how he got his start in Hollywood after graduating from UT, the differences between writing for live-action versus animated series, and the nuances of producing for broadcast television.

This week's guest is Amanda Harrell, who visited a UT class on Unscripted Media on April 9th, 2024. Amanda is the former Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the Alternative and Specials division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. This division of MGM focuses on unscripted content, as well as podcasts and live events. In this role, Amanda was responsible for ensuring the legality of all aspects of a project, seeing productions through from the early stages of development until they aired. Amanda began her career at Mark Burnett's production company, working on projects like EcoChallenge and The Apprentice before she stepped away to earn her law degree. After she passed the California Bar Exam, Amanda returned to Mark Burnett Productions in the Business and Legal affairs department, eventually rising to head of the division.

The conversation was Co- hosted by Dr. Alisa Perren and Brian Edwards, who worked with Amanda at Mark Burnett Productions and served as co-instructor for the course. Amanda, Brian, and Alisa discussed Amanda's career trajectory, the details that legal divisions must keep in mind at all stages of a project lifecycle, and the nuances of international distribution.

This week's guest is Jordan Levin, who spoke with UT students on October 10, 2022. At the time of his visit, Jordan was General Manager at Rooster Teeth, an Austin-based media and entertainment company, where he was responsible for leading all aspects of the business including oversight of strategy, creative and operations. Before joining Rooster Teeth in 2019, Levin served as the CEO of Awesomeness, where he oversaw the growth of the company’s leading digital networks. He also managed its world-class film and television studio, which was behind hits like the Netflix feature film, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Hulu’s critically acclaimed PEN15. In addition to his work at companies like the NFL and XBox, Jordan notably worked on the founding team of The WB Television Network, now known as the CW, where he built shows like Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, and Charmed.

At the time of Jordan's visit, Hollywood was focused on the streaming wars, the rise of IP, and a wave of mergers and acquisitions. The conversation was hosted by Dr. Alisa Perren, and focused on Jordan's career trajectory, the nuances of building a broadcast network, and the nature of digital content in the current media landscape.

This week's guest is Bob Berney. Bob Berney is an Alum of the RTF program here at UT Austin, and has gone on to become a leader in the field of film distribution. Bob began his career working at art house movie theaters in Houston and Dallas, where he learned the nuances of independent film distribution. He went on to found some of the most influential distribution companies in the industry, including IFC Films, Newmarket Films, and FilmDistrict. In 2005, Bob founded PictureHouse as a joint venture between HBO Films and NewLine Cinema and eventually acquired sole ownership. Throughout his career, Bob has guided many renowned films to box office success, including Pan's Labyrinth, Drive, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Bick Sick, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and many more.

Bob Berney spoke to UT students on November 9th, 2023 and the conversation was hosted by RTF Associate Professor of Practice Micah Barber. They discussed his career trajectory, the scope of his work as the CEO of Picturehouse, and his views on the current state of the media industries.

This week's MIC podcast features a panel on Entertainment Law with attorneys PJ Shapiro and Greg Slewett. Both Slewett and Shapiro are founding partners at Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett, and Kole LLP, which was established in 2021 with philanthropy, civic engagement, and inclusion as its core tenants. JSSK LLP represents some of Hollywood's most in-demend talent, including Donald Glover, Florence Pugh, Emma Stone and Adam McKay. PJ earned his Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from UCLA, and Greg graduated from our very own Radio-Television-Film department here at UT.

PJ and Greg spoke to UT students on November 13, 2023 and the conversation was hosted by Dr. Alisa Perren. They discussed their career trajectories, the scope of their work as entertainment lawyers, and their views on the current state of the media industries.

This week's guest is Christopher Casanova. At the time of recording, Christopher was the Vice President of Film and Television at Black Bear Entertainment, where he oversaw production for Dumb Money, starring Seth Rogan and Paul Dano. Other upcoming Black Bear titles that Christopher has developed include horror-thriller Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeney and The Rivals of Amziah King, starring Matthew McConaughey. Christopher is now Head of Content at Princess Pictures in Melbourne, Australia. Christopher is a first generation Cuban-American and a native Texan and earned a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film from right here at The University of Texas at Austin.

Christopher Casanova spoke to UT students on October 23rd, 2023 and the conversation was hosted by Dr. Alisa Perren. They discussed his career trajectory, the scope of his work as VP of Film and Television at Black Bear Entertainment and his views on the current state of the media industries.