Charlie Collier, president of Roku Media, will get the Frank N. Stanton Award for Excellence in Communication from the Center for Communication. The dinner event happens at the Essex House in New York on November 20. 

Collier joined Roku in October 2022. Prior to that, he was CEO at Fox Entertainment. He has also been president and general manager of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. Earlier in his career, Collier held leadership roles at Court TV, Oxygen Media, A+E Networks and TeleRep.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be honoring Charlie with this much-deserved award,” said Center for Communication chairman Shane Peros, who is managing director of global partnerships, media, entertainment and distribution for Google. “He is highly respected within the industry for his integrity and forthright leadership. We look forward to celebrating the arc of his career, from his transformative tenures at AMC and Fox to his bold entrepreneurial vision for Roku.”

Named after the center’s founder and former CBS president, the Frank N. Stanton Award “singles out individuals who are charting the industry’s future and who share the center’s commitment to an inclusive and diverse media,” according to the CFC. Past honorees include Ted Turner, Johnny Carson, Bill Paley, Tina Perry, John Landgraf, Rita Ferro and Jimmy Pitaro.

The CFC educates students seeking careers in media, with the goal of increasing diversity. 

"The Center for Communication’s commitment to shaping the next generation of media visionaries is critical,“ Collier said. “They’re finding, motivating and nurturing tomorrow's Stantons, Paleys and Turners. The center’s efforts continue to inspire hope and excitement for our industry’s future. It’s an honor to be in the company of the many esteemed past honorees. I thank the center for its recognition.”

The second half of Greenleaf’s season two starts up on OWN Aug. 15, and creator Craig Wright promises explosives for the Memphis megachurch. The first half set up serious conflicts — between Grace and Mac, and Charity and Kevin — and the second half will reveal “the fallout of those explosions,” said Wright.

Oprah Winfrey is an executive producer, and plays blues joint owner Mavis McCready. Wright says Winfrey pushes him to make scenes “rougher and deeper.

“She wants juicy, meaty stuff to play,” he added.

Before the TV work hit, Wright ran a church in St. Paul, Minn. He said Winfrey was keen to explore the goings-on of a megachurch. “I’ve learned to trust Oprah,” he said. “When she says it’s gonna be OK, it’s gonna be OK.”

And DuckTales is gonna be OK on Disney XD. Like the original, the reboot features Scrooge McDuck, grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, and Donald Duck, too. Co-producer Francisco Angones says the ideal Duck-Tales team member balances respect for the show’s heritage and a desire to take it in new directions. “They’re so insanely excited to work on DuckTales,” he said, “and so horribly horrified to mess it up.”

A whiteboard at show headquarters reads, “DuckTales Must Be Great.” Angones mentioned that part of the theme song —about solving a mystery and rewriting history — popped up in his wedding vows.

The voice cast includes Danny Pudi and Bobby Moynihan. The producers promise a lively family comedy. “We make sure we create a feeling in you when you watch that you had when you were a kid,” executive producer Matt Youngberg said.

And the final season of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, starting up Aug. 19, may bring viewers back to kidhood too. It depicts the “dawn of search” in the early ’90s, according to creators Christopher Cantwell and Christopher Rogers. “Season four is about the characters arriving at the future they worked very hard to create,” said Rogers. “They’re asking, is this what we hoped for?”

Charlie Collier, AMC and SundanceTV president/general manager, talked about the “rewarding evolution” of Halt from computer drama spec script to critical darling. “It’s something that we’re really proud of,” he said.

The season is full of recognizable early ’90s music, including Hole, Pavement and The Breeders. “They’re songs we both loved as children of the ’80s who reached musical maturity in the ’90s,” Rogers said.

“The Chris’s,” as Collier calls them, don’t know what they’ll do after Halt. For premiere night, they’ll be at the fourth birthday party for Cantwell’s son. With a Justice League theme, the boys will dress up as superheroes, with Cantwell as a villain. A Jedi robe and ski goggles will be part of his costume. “It’s still a work in progress,” Cantwell admitted.

Rogers sees possibilities. “That’s our new show!” he quipped.

AMC president Charlie Collier will add SundanceTV to his portfolio.

AMC Networks Wednesday named Collier as president and general manager of SundanceTV, overseeing the independent film and original programming service along with AMC.

Collier effectively replaces Sarah Barnett who had been named to head up sister service BBC America in November, shortly after AMC Networks purchased the company last year; she had been managing both networks in the interim

Collier, who joined  AMC in 2006, will continue to report to Ed Carroll, chief operating officer of AMC Networks.

 “Running AMC and Sundance under common management makes good sense for both networks, which are heavily focused on high-end drama,” Carroll said. “Charlie has done a great job in moving AMC to a leadership position in the TV landscape. He inherits SundanceTV at a time when it has gained momentum from its original programs like Rectify, The Honorable Woman and The Returned – which often pop up on critics’ top ten lists.”

AMC has greenlit two seasons for the companion series to The Walking Dead, the network said Monday.

The new show, which has yet to be named, is set in Los Angeles and will feature new characters and storylines. The show’s first season encompasses six episodes and will premiere on AMC in late summer.

The show’s second season will air in 2016, according to network officials.

The series will be executively produced by The Walking Dead producers Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert, will star Cliff Curtis (Missing, Gang Related), Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, Sons of Anarchy), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).

AMC president Charlie Collier said in a statement: “We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the number one show on television. From the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, we’ve been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did ‘turn.’ Through this new series, we’re going to find out.”