Cris Abrego
Cris Abrego is Chairman of the Americas at Banijay, the world's largest independent content producer and distributor. Until January 2022, Abrego served as Chairman of Banijay Americas, and President and CEO of Endemol Shine Holdings. In his current role, he leads all acquisitions and new business ventures across North and South America for Banijay.
Abrego first joined Endemol Shine North America as co-CEO in 2014. Elevated to CEO, Endemol Shine North America and Chairman, Endemol Shine Americas in 2016, Abrego's areas of oversight expanded when Banijay acquired Endemol Shine Group in 2020. As co-founder and CEO of 51 Minds Entertainment in 2003, Abrego pioneered the then new celeb-reality genre of unscripted television with shows like The Surreal Life. He followed the success of The Surreal Life with a string of celeb-reality hits, growing the unscripted studio from its boutique beginnings into an industry heavyweight that produced more than $100 million a year in content. At its height, 51 Minds Entertainment was producing more than 150 hours of programming a year for VH1 alone, eventually selling to Endemol in 2008.
Abrego began his career at one of the Banijay Americas studios that he oversees today, Bunim/Murray Productions, where he worked on unscripted hits The Real World and Road Rules.
Abrego serves as Chair of the Television Academy Foundation, the charitable pro-social arm of the Television Academy, and as a member of the Executive Committee for the Television Academy.
Francesca Amiker
Francesca Amiker is a 4x Emmy Award-Winning Journalist who has been bringing out the best moments of your favorite celebrities over the last decade. She is currently a respected correspondent for E! News where she has scored countless exclusives, created fun viral moments and made genuine connections with those in the entertainment industry.
Her most recent accomplishment heading into 2023? Being inducted into the Media Hall of Fame at her alma mater Vanderbilt University, making her the youngest inductee in Hall of Fame history. The honor was bestowed on those who helped create the University's Student Communications Program. She is no stranger to having a vision, blazing her own trail and fostering opportunities for those coming behind her.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Francesca spent four years in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia as the city's first and only Entertainment Morning Anchor, a position she pitched and created her self.
From conversations with Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Ryan Reynolds, to Ben Affleck, Halle Berry, John Travolta and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Francesca has landed recurring interviews with every major star that has come through her hometown.
These opportunities weren't handed to her. When Francesca arrived to NBC Atlanta's 11Alive, she created a segment called "The A-scene" where she took viewers behind the scenes of movies, television shows, music videos, casting calls; all filmed in Georgia. Most importantly, she made it her mission to make sure her viewers understood the impact and benefit that Georgia's $10 billion TV and Film industry had on the states economy.
In 2018, she became the first talent sent to cover the Primetime EMMYS in Los Angeles by NBC Atlanta's 11Alive where she and her team broadcasted a LIVE, on-location 30 minute special. At the end of 2018, Francesca not only received the "Media Mover Award" from the Technology Association of Georgia but also received the distinguished "Employee of The Year" Award at the award winning station.
Before Atlanta, Francesca worked as a hard news and investigative reporter at WJXT in Jacksonville, Florida. She also worked as a morning reporter in Lansing, Michigan at WLNS.
Beyond the TV, Francesca has a zest for travel! She recently visited Thailand, Germany, Colombia, Indonesia, Guatemala, Dubai, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. Often she travels solo which allows her to learn the stories of those that she comes in contact with through her journeys.
Francesca is a proud Vanderbilt University Alum where she recently was asked back to give a keynote speech.
She is the recipient of four Emmys, and two Edward Murrows.
Francesca is a proud member of the National Association of Black Journalists and Delta Sigma Theta Inc.
If you ask Francesca what her favorite title might be, it's being a daughter and sister. She is the daughter of two encouraging and God-fearing parents, Francina and Ellaway D. Amiker III. She is the proud middle child of her two siblings, Ellaway D. Amiker IV and Franjellica Amiker.
Katie Campione
Katie Campione is a Los Angeles based TV Reporter. She joined Deadline in 2022 from TheWrap, where she also covered the television industry. She also has worked for The Hollywood Reporter, The Associated Press, People Magazine, and more. Katie is from Florida and earned her degree in journalism from the University of Florida. .
Jeff Conway
Jeff Conway is the Senior Contributor for the Hollywood and Entertainment section at Forbes. Being Forbes's consistently most-read celebrity interview writer today, Jeff has landed many exclusive conversations over the past few months, including with Jennifer Aniston, Ryan Reynolds, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Dolly Parton and more about their hardworking passion projects beyond Hollywood. Jeff began his career in Chicago as a top TV Host, where he was nominated for multiple Emmys including "Program Host" for his popular televised celebrity interviews over the past decade. He takes great pride in having the unique journalistic ability to get these often-private Hollywood stars to comfortably open up about their ongoing lives and careers in a way not really seen elsewhere. Jeff currently resides in Los Angeles and values the many opportunities he has to often conduct meaningful, in-person conversations with these celebrated artists.
Jodi Delaney
Jodi Delaney is executive director of the Television Academy Foundation. She oversees daily operations and provides strategic leadership of foundation programs and initiatives to fulfill the charitable organization's mission to identify, advance and empower future television leaders. An executive with 20 years' experience in nonprofit, government, and private sector management and development, Delaney has supervised high-profile initiatives in entertainment, environmental conservation, economic development and social services throughout her career.
Previously, Delaney served as chief development officer at the Youth Policy Institute, a nonprofit fighting intergenerational poverty in Los Angeles, where she oversaw donor development and fundraising efforts. Delaney also held the position of Los Angeles program director at The Trust for Public Land, a national environmental organization that builds parks and preserves natural places for communities in 30 states nationwide.
She served in New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's administration where she held two key positions over a six-year period. At the New Mexico Film Office, she directed the New Mexico Filmmakers program, creating numerous education and diversity-focused initiatives designed to help establish and grow a sustainable media community in the state. At the Department of Cultural Affairs, she was executive director of New Mexico's statehood centennial, a wide-ranging commemoration that involved over 300 projects among diverse communities in 33 counties.
Delaney's television career began in New York City, where she was field producer at ABC News on the multi-part series The Century with Peter Jennings. For over a decade Delaney was a writer and producer for documentaries, commercials and short films that aired on networks including HBO, TLC, History Channel and Discovery Health.
Delaney received her Master of Arts from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Arts in speech-communication from the University of Minnesota. She is a board member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Advisors in Philanthropy and on the board of trustees of the Pasadena Waldorf School.
Jo DiSante
Jo DiSante is vice president of Current Programing & Synergy at ABC Entertainment, where she oversees the creative content and production of numerous primetime series including current series The Good Doctor, The Rookie, The Rookie: Feds and Big Sky . She also provides creative and strategic support for ABC News and facilitates synergy initiatives between current shows and other business units across The Walt Disney Company. DiSante started at ABC in 2006 as an executive in the Office of the President of the Entertainment Group before joining the Current Programming Department in 2011. An advocate for representation and inclusion, she drove the development and implementation of the ABC Inclusion Standards and co-chairs a grassroots, employee-driven task force that works to find tactical solutions to address the complexities around granting access, creating opportunity and increasing inclusion in our content and in our workplace. DiSante also represents television executives on the Television Academy's Board of Governors, she's an executive champion for The Bond, the Black Employee Resource Group at the Walt Disney Company, and she's the executive sponsor of Women@Disney's peer mentor circles program.
Stephanie Drachkovitch
Stephanie Drachkovitch is co-founder and Co-CEO of 44 Blue Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company. During stints as senior vice president of development for Warner Bros. Telepictures and Disney's Buena Vista TV unit, Drachkovitch developed primetime and syndicated reality programs including The Bachelor, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Ellen. Her experience has helped shape 44 Blue's diverse slate from E!'s top-rated Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry and Oxygen's GLAAD Award-winning Strut, produced in association with Whoopi Goldberg's One Ho Productions, to the syndicated Emmy-nominated Family Court with Judge Penny; OWN's Gracie Award-winning Married to the Army: Alaska; and true-crime series Twisted Sisters for Investigation Discovery, produced in association with Khloé Kardashian.
Denny Dugally
Denny was born and raised in Los Angeles. She has been working in the film industry for the last 30+ years, starting as a Production Assistant in the Art Department and working her way up to Production Designer. Her work experience includes many feature films, commercials, music videos and hundreds of hours of Primetime Television and streaming. She received an Emmy for Art Direction for the pilot of the TV Series NYPD Blue and was nominated for another Emmy as the Production Designer for the pilot of Arrested Development. Denny spends her time off traveling to foreign locales honing her craft of landscape and wildlife photography and has enjoyed commercial success with her photography. Her passion for Foreign films is evident in her dedication to seeing as many non-domestic films a year as she can, numbering in the 150-200+ range, and she is Lead Programmer for the Southeast European Film Festival, and also programs for The Arab Film Festival and The Austin Film Festival. Denny is currently Production Designing the 3rd season of the Ryan Murphy television series 911: Lone Star. In recent years Denny has designed all 3 seasons of The Kominsky Method for Netflix and The Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life - 4 feature films also for Netflix. Denny has an Australian Shepherd named Sadie who was the official Art Department dog during the filming of the feature film, The Secret.
Scott Evans
Emmy Award-nominated entertainment journalist Scott Evans currently hosts NBCUniversal's nationally syndicated entertainment news show Access Hollywood and the talk show Access Daily with Mario & Kit. Connecting with Hollywood's elite through his authentic and engaging style, Evans' talents are also showcased on his weekday Amp morning radio show, "It's Go Time with Scott Evans." Evans also currently serves on The Television Academy Foundation's board of directors.
In 2021, Evans broadened his relationship with NBCUniversal with an overall talent and development deal. The deal expanded his role on-screen and off-screen on both linear and streaming platforms. Evans and his production company, Summer Break Studios, have several projects in the works.
Evans professional resume includes hosting two seasons of NBC's hit dance competition series World of Dance, USA Network's America's Big Deal and OWN's first weekly live talk show OWN Tonight.
He began his on-air career anchoring the Peabody Award-winning program Channel One News, traveling internationally for four years to cover the world's biggest news stories.
Brett Goldstein
Brett Goldstein—a breakthrough British creative force on and offscreen — has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after multihyphenates. He is the co-executive producer, writer, and star of the Peabody-winning Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso. Hailed by fans and critics alike, season one made waves as the most-nominated freshman comedy in Emmy history, and this year matched its record- breaking haul with an equally recognized season two. His scene-stealing performance as the brash yet lovable Roy Kent has earned him numerous accolades including two Primetime Emmy Awards for ‘Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy,’ making him the category’s first back-to-back winner in almost 15 years. He additionally received a 2022 WGA Award nomination as part of the show’s writing team, having scored two wins the year prior. Goldstein is the creator and executive producer of the upcoming straight-to-series comedy Shrinking for Apple TV+ alongside Jason Segel and Bill Lawrence. This follows the success of his critically acclaimed AMC limited anthology series, Soulmates, which he created and executive produced with Will Bridges. He is the host of the iHeartRadio award-winning podcast, Films To Be Buried With, which finds him in candid conversation with special guests as they discuss the films that have shaped them .
Terry Gordon
Terry received her MFA in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon's prestigious Drama Dept. Her ensuing career has been wide and varied as a 42 year member of both IATSE Locals: the Costume Designers Guild Local 892 and the Motion Picture Costumers Union local 705.
Arriving in Los Angeles, she began her career both as a Cutter fitter working out of 705 and as a designer for Commercials and Music Videos. Hired as the Men's costume supervisor for the sitcom The Nanny , Terry received three Emmy nominations during the show's six year run. Continuing to supervise several other sitcoms with her team, they were hired to costume the hit sitcom Reba starring Reba McEntire. This began a 20 year design partnership with the country singing Icon which continues to this day. Terry has Designed costumes for Reba's various tours, music videos, events, red carpet appearances and her starring role in the sitcom Malibu Country.
Interspersed with Reba's schedule, Terry continued the opportunity to work on several other Fran Drescher projects: "Happily Divorced "and "Indebted." "Happily Divorced" also featured Rita Moreno with whom Terry happily continued to work on Norman Lear's reboot of One Day at a Time during it's 4 season run.
Terry served as the Television Academy's Costume Design Governor for two terms and continues mentoring their Foundation's summer costume internship program. Serving on the Costume Designers Guild Executive Board for 12 years, Terry was recently elected President of the Guild and continues working with the Guild's Executive board and staff to shepherd their 1100 members.
Joanna Johnson
Joanna Johnson is the co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Freeform's critically acclaimed series Good Trouble. Previously, she was the creator, executive producer and director of Freeform's limited series Love in the Time of Corona, the first scripted series shot entirely during the quarantine. She was also an executive producer and showrunner on Freeform's groundbreaking series The Fosters, which ran for five seasons.
Joanna Johnson was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended USC Film School and, after graduating, pursued an acting career. Most notably, she played twins Caroline and Karen Spencer on the CBS soap opera The Bold & the Beautiful.
Johnson's primary focus is on writing, producing and directing. She wrote the independent feature "The Shrink is In," starring Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and went on to create and show run the sitcom Hope & Faith for ABC, which ran for three seasons. She was co-executive producer on ABC Family's Make It or Break It, Fairly Legal for USA Cable, and the CW's Emily Owens, M.D.
Johnson currently resides in Los Angeles with her wife and children.
Amanda Jones
Amanda Jones is an Emmy Nominated Composer who is rapidly becoming a standout voice amongst a new generation of television and film composers.
Jones' original music can be heard on the episode "Maine" from Apple TV+'s documentary series Home for which she received her first Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Music Composition For A Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score). Jones has the distinction of being the first African American female to be nominated in the Primetime Emmy score category.
Jones' television credits also include HBO's Duplass Bros. comedy Somebody Somewhere, CW's series Naomi, the Ba'al Episode of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Stories on FX, Nat Geo's series, Nat Geo Presents Impact with Gal Gadot, Freeform's Good Trouble, HBO Max's Adventure Time Distant Lands: Obsidian and Together Again, OWN's anthology series Cherish the Day, produced by Ava DuVernay, Showtime's Twenties, produced by Lena Waithe, HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show, produced by Robin Thede and Issa Rae, Adult Swim comedy series Beef House, for which she wrote the main title theme and the upcoming Nat Geo / Disney + Docu-series Supernatural Planet and HBO Max & Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming series, Young Love.
In addition to her television credits, Jones has experience scoring both short and feature films. Jones is scoring the upcoming feature film Moving On, directed by Oscar winning director Paul Weitz starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and Netflix's "Perfect Find".
Her past film credits include the HBO Max Documentary Feature "Dreamland: The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street", Duplass Bros' produced feature "7 Days", the Netflix feature "Definition Please", starring Levar Burton directed by Sujata Day, Menelek Lumumba's award-winning drama "1 Angry Black Man", Andre Hormann's documentary feature "Ringside" and Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan's Oscar-nominated documentary short "St. Louis Superman".
Jones has a BA in music from Vassar College where she studied music composition, production and classical guitar under Terry Champlin. She also has certificates in both film scoring and orchestration from Berklee College of Music.
Jones performs as the singer and guitarist of the Los Angeles based indie rock band, The Anti-Job. Their music has been air-played on multiple radio stations including BBC Radio and NPR.
Rachel Kamerman
Rachel Camerman is a groundbreaking production designer known for bold, sumptuous, character-rich sets, whose television credits include the hit series Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls. Currently, she is designing her fifth season of Freeform/Hulu's Good Trouble, after initially creating the first five seasons of The Fosters. Rachel has been responsible for over 300 hours of episodic television, combining her love of visual storytelling, construction and decorative arts. After a career in architectural and interior design (hotels, restaurants, retail and residential), she segued to film, first as an art director, with indie features such as "Twilight Of The Golds" starring Brendan Fraser, "The Alarmist", starring Stanley Tucci, "The Last Time I Committed Suicide", with Keanu Reeves, and "The Velocity of Gary", with Salma Hayek and Ethan Hawke. Rachel then made a splash as production designer with her provocative and satirical designs for Jamie Babbit's landmark cult comedy, "But I'm A Cheerleader", starring Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall and Melanie Lynskey, as well as Ryan Reynolds' breakout comedy, "National Lampoon's Van Wilder". In all her film & television work, Rachel believes collaboration is key to the creative process: how will the set tell the story, lift the words off the page, define the characters, provide the director and director of photography the best sightlines and ultimately, how will the set support the overall vision for everyone involved.
Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence is an award-winning television writer, producer and director. His current projects include the Apple TV + series Ted Lasso, for which he recently won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series; Bad Monkey with Vince Vaughn for Apple TV +; "and a "Clone High" reboot.
Lawrence previously created and executive produced Scrubs and co-created Cougar Town, Ground Floor, Spin City, and Clone High. Scrubs, which was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, was also named a Future Classic by the TV Land cable network and was the winner of both a Humanitas Award and an Imagen Award. Lawrence also executive produced/supervised numerous other shows under his Doozer banner including Whiskey Cavalier, Undateable, Nobody's Watching, Surviving Jack, and Head of the Class.
Lawrence currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Christa Miller (The Drew Carey Show, Scrubs); their daughter, singer Charlotte Lawrence; and sons, Will and Henry.
Michelle McNulty
Michelle and her incredible team are responsible for casting at least one of your favorite TV shows over the last 15 years. Whether it's The Voice, Dancing with Myself, Songland, World of Dance, The Sing Off, America's Best Dance Crew and taking it back to Rockstar INXS & Supernova for all the old school people, McNulty Casting has no doubt brought some amazing singing and dancing into your life.
Michelle is an award winning and Emmy Nominated Supervising Casting Director & Emmy Winning Producer. When she's not searching for talent around the country, she's living her best life with family, friends and her dog Ripley.
Lynn Renee Maxcy
Lynn focuses on new forms of storytelling in grounded sci-fi and speculative fiction, particularly in future worlds where no matter how dark it seems, there is always hope. She is most known for writing on Seasons 1-3 of Hulu's Emmy-winning series The Handmaid's Tale (for which she won two Writers Guild Awards and was nominated for two more), the upcoming feature Mars 2080 and the branching narrative The Complex.
Christa Miller
Christa Miller has solidified an indelible footprint in American television and has long been respected for her acting work across various roles in The Drew Carey Show, Scrubs and Cougar Town. Miller is also a brilliant music supervisor whose work can has been heard on Ted Lasso, Cougar Town, and Scrubs.
Past film credits include "Hot Air" opposite Gary Cole, "Breaking In" for director James McTeigue and "The Operator," to name a few.
Justin Noble
Justin Noble is a comedy writer and producer who co-created The Sex Lives of College Girls along with Mindy Kaling, and he serves as the showrunner of the series. The first two seasons of The Sex Lives of College Girls are currently available on HBO Max and the series was recently renewed for a third season.
Prior to this project, Justin has sold original comedy series to CBS, NBC and ABC – and has written for series including Never Have I Ever and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a show where he was one of the longest-serving writers, working on nearly 100 episodes of the Golden Globe-winning series. His coming-out episode of that show, entitled "Game Night", went on to help win Brooklyn Nine-Nine a GLAAD award, and as a queer writer he is very proud of that, which is why he is ending this bio blurb with it.
Lindsay Pepper
Lindsay Pepper is a two time Emmy winning Foley artist as well as part owner/CFO of her own Foley company: Paradise Sound Group, Inc. Having graduated early from Ferris State University in Michigan in 2012, Lindsay was accepted into the TV Academy summer intern program in the Movies for Television category. After completing a 6 month internship working on movies for the Hallmark channel, she got a job as a receptionist at Technicolor Sound on the Paramount Studios lot. It was here that she developed a passion for sound and learned more about the art of Foley. After training on nights and weekends for almost 2 years, she was offered a full-time Foley artist position within the company. After 7 years as a Foley artist with Technicolor, Lindsay and her team decided to branch out on their own and form their own Foley company. She now works out of her own brand new studio where she works as a foley artist and also handles the financial side of the business. Some of her credits include Stranger Things, Watchmen, Yellowjackets, The Umbrella Academy, This is Us, and Family Guy.
Rachel Raimist
Dr. Rachel Raimist is a formerly tenured college professor turned television director. She broke into TV when she was tapped by Ava DuVernay to direct "QUEEN SUGAR" for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). She has recently directed episodes including "QUEEN SUGAR" for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). She has recently directed episodes including "QUEENS" (ABC), "THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS" (HBO Max), "THE BIG LEAP" (Fox), "WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA" (Hulu), "FANTASY ISLAND" (Fox), "DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT" (Disney+) and "4400", "THE REPUBLIC OF SARAH", "NANCY DREW and ROSWELL NEW MEXICO" for The CW.
Raimist holds a B.A. and a M.F.A. in Directing from the UCLA School of Film and Television and a M.A. in Women's Studies and a Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota where The Rachel Raimist Feminist Media Center was named in her honor.
Chris Sacani
Christine Sacani is a veteran producer of over 30 film and television productions, moving seamlessly and gratefully through these vastly different landscapes.
For the last 10 years, Sacani has served as executive producer on the critically acclaimed series Good Trouble and its prequel and GLAAD Award winner The Fosters for Freeform. Sacani's additional television credits include the HBO limited series Family Tree, with director Christopher Guest; Happyish, a pilot for Showtime starring the late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman; and a few seasons on USA Networks' popular series Royal Pains.
Sacani also spent some time working in the world of feature films. One of her most important and beloved experiences includes the original "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" as well as the second installment. She is currently in active development of a third installment alongside director Ken Kwapis, with whom she also produced the romantic comedy "License to Wed" starring Robin Williams.
With television production as the foundation of her producing career, Sacani counts among her noteworthy accomplishments the Emmy Award-winning family dramas "Eloise at Christmastime" and "Eloise at the Plaza," starring Julie Andrews and Sofia Vassilieva; the musical drama "South Pacific," starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr.; the crime drama "Thin Air," with Joe Montegna and Marcia Gay Harden; and the Emmy-nominated and NAACP Award-winning "Rosa Parks Story," starring Angela Bassett. Another proud moment for Sacani was her partnership with Joanna Johnson and Freeform to create and shoot Love in the Time of Corona, with Leslie Odom Jr. and Gil Bellows, proudly the first TV drama shot fully remotely and airing during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Born in New York, Sacani graduated from New York University with a B.F.A. in film and television.
Jason Segel
'Jimmy Laird'
Jason Segel is an actor, author, director, writer and producer. Most recently Segel was seen starring opposite John C. Reilly and Adrien Brody in Adam McKay's ,"Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." The show received an Emmy nomination in 2022 for Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (One Hour). Segel recently wrapped production for season two. In film, he recently starred in Charlie McDowell's feature "Windfall," opposite Lily Collins and Jesse Plemmons.
Segel also starred opposite Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck in Gabriela Cowperthwaite's "Our Friend." Prior to that, Segel created, wrote, directed, produced and starred in the anthology series, "Dispathes from Elsewhere." The series, which premiered at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, was nominated for a 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Limited Series or Anthology Series and co- starred Sally Field, Andre Benjamin and Eve Lindley.
Segel received critical acclaim for starring as David Foster Wallace in James Ponsoldt's dramatic biopic, "The End of the Tour." The film recounts the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and Wallace, which took place after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking novel, "Infinite Jest." "The End of the Tour" premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Segel received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for his performance in the film.
Segel landed his first major leading role in Nicholas Stoller's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The film, which Segel wrote, made over $100 million worldwide. Segel wrote a "Dracula" musical performed by puppets, which was a personal idea and passion he incorporated into the film, emboldening him to pitch his concept for a "Muppets" movie. He, along with Stoller, signed on to write "The Muppets," which made over $150 million worldwide. Additionally, the film won an Academy Award in 2012 for Best Original Song for "Man or Muppet," written by Bret McKenzie and performed by Segel. He also collaborated with Nicholas Stoller in 2010 to write and co-produce the film "Get Him to the Greek" where Jonah Hill and Russell Brand reunited as co-stars in a spin-off of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The film grossed over $90 million worldwide and won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Comedy.
Segel is also well known for starring in Charlie McDowell's "The Discovery," opposite Robert Redford, Mary Steenburgen and Rooney Mara, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival; Joshua Marston's "Come Sunday," opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, John Hamburg's "I Love You, Man," opposite Paul Rudd; Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass' "Jeff, Who Lives at Home," opposite Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon.
Segel's other film credits include: Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up," which was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Movie and was named one of AFI's Top Ten Films of the Year, Judd Apatow's "This Is 40," which was nominated for a 2013 Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Movie, Nicholas Stoller's "The Five-Year Engagement" opposite Emily Blunt, Jake Kasdan's "Bad Teacher," opposite Cameron Diaz, Rob Letterman's "Gulliver's Travels" opposite Jack Black, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud's "Despicable Me," opposite Steve Carrell and Russell Brand, among others.
On television, Segel starred in How I Met Your Mother alongside Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, and Neil Patrick Harris. The show, which was created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, ran for nine seasons and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy and a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Show: Comedy. He is also well known for starring in Judd Apatow's Emmy-nominated television series Freaks and Geeks as well as Apatow's Undeclared.
In addition to his work in television and film, Segel made his debut as a children's book author with "Nightmares!," published by Random House and co-written by Kirsten Miller. The first installment of the middle-grade trilogy was released in September 2014 and debuted at #2 on The New York Times Bestseller List. The second book, "Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic," was published in September 2015, and the third and final book in the series, "Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby" was published in September 2016. Furthermore, in November 2017, Segel and Miller teamed up again for a second book series called "Otherworld," which is a young adult trilogy and debuted at #6 on The New York Times Bestseller List. The second installment of the series, "Otherearth" was released in October 2019 and the final book in the trilogy in the series, "Otherlife," was released in November 2020.
Gillian Sonnier
A journey that started with medical school took a sharp detour when Gillian Sonnier took a part-time job with a local news station. That experience sent her down a different path... straight for television. Her career began in the reality and documentary world, producing for Discovery, TLC and The Travel Channel. Other producing credits include The Daytime Emmys, Bridezillas and the International version of E! News. Eager for new challenges, Gillian dove into scripted Post Production, first with ABC, and eventually ABC Family/Freeform on the series' Chasing Life Pretty Little Liars, Ravenswood, and The Fosters. She is currently a Co-Executive Producer of Good Trouble."
Tramell Tillman
Tramell Tillman is a SAG and Independent Spirit Award nominee for his role of "Milchick" on Apple TV's drama series Severance starring Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, Christopher Walken, John Turturro and Zach Cherry with director and executive producer Ben Stiller at the helm.
Tillman has graced the screen and stage for over 20 years. Some of his more recent roles include "Steven" in the critically acclaimed AMC series Dietland, originating the role of "Alvin" in "Good Night, Oscar" starring Sean Hayes, "Sgt. Brown" in the award-winning opera revival of "Carmen Jones" starring Anika Noni Rose and originating the role of "Chris" in the Pulitzer Prize winning international hit play "Sweat" by Lynn Nottage. In the Fall of 2019 Tillman made his Broadway debut at Lincoln Center in the epic new play The Great Society starring Brian Cox. Simultaneously, viewers could catch Tramell playing alongside Academy Award winner Forrest Whitaker on the new grizzly Epix series Godfather of Harlem and the Amazon series Hunters starring Al Pacino. He will next be seen in the HBOMax feature Sweethearts.
Tramell Tillman graduated Summa Cum Laude from Jackson State University in 2008 with a BS degree in Mass Communications. During his matriculation he was involved with several social and civic organizations such as: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Student Government Association, National Association of Black Journalists, MADDRAMA Performance Troupe, Tiger Pride, and inducted into several honor societies. This DC/MD native graduated top of his class from the University of Tennessee Master of Fine Arts acting program in Knoxville. He was the first African American male to complete the program in 2014. While at UT the Arts of College and Sciences named Tillman as "UT's Student to Watch." He was nominated and selected out of a population of over 25,000 students. Since graduating he has moved to NY working with award winning directors such as John Doyle, Robert O'Hara, Ernest Dickerson, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Lisa Peterson, Lee Sunday Evans, Woodie King Jr., just to name a few.
The classically trained actor is no stranger to the classics. He took on the role of Laertes in a production of "Hamlet" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and recently performed in a staged reading of "Play On", a project commissioned by OSF to translate all 39 of Shakespeare's plays. He is also no stranger to the NY classical theater community. Tillman has appeared at Classic Theater Company, Red Bull Theater, and Bedlam.
In his spare time Tillman works in local communities supporting causes of arts advocacy, mental health awareness, LGBTQ rights, and causes focusing on persons of color. He is an activist and artist committed to giving voice to the voiceless. He believes in the transformative power of the arts. In his opinion it's one of the purest channels into preserving and enhancing all of humanity.
Jessica Williams
'Gaby Evans'
Jessica Williams was recently seen in theaters in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore" opposite Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen. Previously, Williams starred in the second season of the hit series,"Love Life" for Sam Boyd, starring opposite William Jackson Harper. She also starred in the indie film "Corporate Animals," in which she stars opposite Ed Helms and Demi Moore, which premiered at Sundance 2019, as well as "Booksmart," directed by Olivia Wilde.
As a writer/performer, Williams was first seen as a correspondent for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." In 2012 she was featured in Variety's "Top 10 Comics To Watch." She and fellow comedian Phoebe Robinson then performed "2 Dope Queens." Both seasons of the show born from their popular podcast "2 Dope Queens."
Her previous film credits include "The Incredible Jessica James," which premiered at Sundance 2017 and the Sundance 2015 comedy "People Places Things."
Tyler Wong
Tyler Wong is an editor based in Los Angeles, California who focuses on unscripted/documentary storytelling.
For as long as he could remember, he wanted to work in film/television. During his senior year in high school, he had an internship with his local news station, KSEE 24 in Fresno, CA. He eventually was offered a job as a video editor for KSEE 24.
In 2013, Tyler transferred to UC Riverside to major in Media and Cultural Studies with a minor in Political Science. During the summer of 2014, Tyler landed an internship with the Television Academy with the category of editing reality television at Bunim-Murray Productions.
After college, he worked his way up from Digitizer, Assistant editor, to what he's doing today, Editor. Tyler has worked on shows such as MTV's The Challenge, VH1's Love & Hip Hop: Miami, and BET+'s American Gangster: Trap Queens.
Constance Zimmer
Emmy nominated actress Constance Zimmer has displayed great versatility throughout her career and is well-known for playing a number of standout characters in notable projects. She starred in Lifetime's hit drama series UnReal, all seasons are now on Hulu. On the show, she played "Quinn King" the executive producer of a fictional dating show. This role garnered Zimmer a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2016. In addition, Zimmer won a 2016 Critics' Choice Award and received a nomination for season two as well. The series won a 2015 Peabody Award and was named one of AFI's Top 10 shows. Zimmer made her directorial debut, directing episodes in the third and fourth seasons.
Zimmer recently wrapped the Amazon pilot Shelter, based on Harlan Coben's book trilogy of the same name. She was most recently seen in her recurring roles on ABC's Big Sky, Peacock's The Calling, and Freeform's Good Trouble; and also directed several episodes of the latter series.
In March 2023, Zimmer directed and executive produced her first feature film, "Boy In The Walls", starring Ryan Michelle Bathe. It will air on Lifetime TBD.
In 2019, Zimmer joined the AT&T series Condor as a series regular in its second season, starring alongside Bob Balaban and Max Irons. Zimmer also joined the tenth season of Showtime's Shameless in a recurring role.
Zimmer previously wrapped production on the sixth and final season of the Netflix Emmy nominated original series House of Cards, executive produced by David Fincher. Her character "Janine Skorsky" was also seen in seasons one, two, four, and five.
Starting in 2005, and for six seasons, Zimmer played the role of "Dana Gordon" on HBO's critically acclaimed series Entourage. She reprised this role when Warner Bros. released the "Entourage" film on the big screen. Zimmer also had a recurring role on HBO's Golden Globe nominated series The Newsroom, executive produced by Aaron Sorkin. Additionally, she recurred on the third season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and voices characters on Cartoon Network's animated series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, as well as the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman.
Zimmer was a series lead on ABC's Boston Legal, created by David E. Kelley, which earned her a SAG Award nomination and had recurring roles on the IFC series Maron, Grey's Anatomy, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. She also guest starred on Seinfeld and the sitcom Ellen. Another recent noteworthy film project she completed is the independent feature film Results opposite Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders, which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival.
Zimmer resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Russ, a director, and their daughter. She is repped by Sweeney Entertainment and UTA.
updated 4.17.23
