Laura Michalchyshyn | President, Partner, Sundance Productions
Michalchyshyn, a producer and executive who has held posts at Discovery, Alliance Atlantis and Sundance Channel, has partnered with Robert Redford since Sundance Productions was established in 2012. The company got its first Emmy nomination for the feature-length documentary All the President’s Men Revisited, which aired on Discovery. Sundance went on to produce The March for PBS, BBC and France3 and Chicagoland, a multipart documentary series currently on CNN that incorporates live social media activity into each airing.
Embracing the lineage of Sundance, which was launched by Redford several years after he started the Sundance Film Festival, Michalchyshyn invited content creators for tech companies including Microsoft and Intel to develop integrated projects that were showcased at the festival. During her nearly 20-year career, Michalchyshyn has overseen many original domestic and international series, including Iconoclasts, The Fabulous Beekman Boys and Slings & Arrows. She has won two News and Documentary Emmys, an IDA Award and an Environmental Media Association Award.
Charlotte Koh | Head of Development, Hulu Originals, Hulu
The role of shepherding original content on Hulu is gaining prominence under new CEO Mike Hopkins. After putting out some 20 original titles in 2013, Hopkins has pledged to double that tally over the coming years. Koh’s current portfolio includes Deadbeat, a coproduction with Lionsgate starring Tyler Labine, Brandon T. Jackson and Cat Deeley; and second seasons of The Awesomes, cocreated by Seth Meyers; Quick Draw, created by Nancy Hower & John Lehr (10 Items or Less); and Behind the Mask, created by Josh Greenbaum (The Short Game).
She was also executive producer for Hulu on The Wrong Mans, a coproduction with the BBC created by and starring Mat Baynton (Spy) and James Corden (Gavin and Stacey), directed by Jim Field Smith (Butter). Prior to Hulu, Koh was senior VP of business development for Marvel Studios and an executive at Fox Searchlight who worked on titles such as The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal and The History Boys. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Geetanjali Dhillon | VP Marketing and Digital Strategy, U.S. Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Dhillon’s role gives her oversight of the marketing and digital media efforts of Sony Movie Channel, Cine Sony Television and the broadcast digital subchannel getTV. She leads the emerging networks’ consumer creative concepts, branding initiatives, affiliate endeavors, publicity and social media. Plus, she is responsible for leading strategy and initiatives for consumer-facing digital products for the networks.
Based at SPT’s global headquarters in Culver City, Calif., Dhillon began working at the company in July 2012. Under her direction, Sony Movie Channel and Cine Sony Television have significantly increased their digital footprints and seek to engage viewers with premium multiplatform experiences. Dhillon and her team are also responsible for marketing getTV, which launched on Feb. 3 in cities across the U.S. Dhillon also founded the Republic of Brown website and newsletter to embrace and market the lifestyle of modern Indian women.
Laura Lee | Head of Entertainment, YouTube/Google
In heading up YouTube’s Entertainment East Team, Lee focuses on broadcasters, cable networks, film studios, aggregators, digital media and original programming partnerships for the East Coast and Canada. Since joining YouTube in 2007, Lee has spearheaded relationships with partners including Vice, Discovery Networks, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, CBS and Scripps, among others, and led the launch of YouTube’s Rentals video-on-demand offering. She is impassioned about cultivating the East Coast content community.
Prior to YouTube, Lee was VP and head of business development and operations for MTV Networks’ music & logo group, where she led the acquisition of Harmonix and launched several vertical broadband businesses. She also served in various production and development roles at VH1 and Spike TV, including the GQ Man of the Year awards. Lee also worked at Time Warner in special projects in several capacities, including as interim controller at Africana.com. She got her start as a media investment banker at J.P. Morgan. The self-described “diehard Brooklynite” is also a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School.
