John Morayniss, CEO – Entertainment One Television

John Morayniss oversees all aspects of eOne Television which encompasses the production, development, licensing, financing and international distribution of live action drama and comedy series, un-scripted/alternative/reality/factual series, television movies, mini-series and documentaries, prime time animation programming and family/kids programming – both live action and animation. John also oversees the strategic growth of eOne’s television business and serves as an Executive Producer on many eOne Television productions. He began his career as an entertainment attorney working at McCarthy’s in Toronto.

Prior to eOne Television (and its predecessor company, Blueprint Entertainment, where John held the position of CEO), John was head of television at Alliance Atlantis where he oversaw all development, production and co-production activities for the television division, including the mega-hit series franchise, CSI. John’s most recent executive producer credits include ROOKIE BLUE for ABC, HUNG for HBO, HAVEN for the SyFy Channel, CALL ME FITZ for HBO Canada and HELL ON WHEELS for AMC. Next up is the NBC series, THE FIRM, based on the best-selling John Grisham novel and the hit feature film.

Morayniss is on the Banff Television Festival’s Board of Directors for 2012. He is also a board member of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) which encourages and supports the progress of the entertainment industry and all of the platforms it serves.

Noreen Halpern, President, Dramatic Programming – Entertainment One Television

As President of Dramatic Programming for eOne Television, Noreen Halpern oversees all scripted series and long form projects. These include THE FIRM, airing on NBC, HELL ON WHEELS, airing on AMC, ROOKIE BLUE, airing its second season for ABC and Global, CALL ME FITZ, airing on TMN and DIRECTV, ALMOST HEROES, airing on Showcase, and HAVEN, which is in production for its second season on SyFy and Showcase. In addition, she is an executive producer on the HBO comedy series HUNG.

Halpern came up the ranks as a creative executive at Canada's Alliance Entertainment, staying with the company through the merger that formed Canadian production/distribution powerhouse Alliance-Atlantis. In 2002, Halpern left Alliance-Atlantis to co-found and run her own shingle, Blueprint Entertainment. In fall 2008, Blueprint Entertainment entered into a milestone merger agreement with a number of international partners to form Entertainment One, now the largest entertainment company in Canada.

Margaret O'Brien, COO – Entertainment One Television

Margaret O'Brien, C.A., is the Chief Operating Officer of Entertainment One Television, a division of Entertainment One, one of Canada’s leading independent entertainment content creators, owners and distributors. She is responsible for eOne TV’s operations and plays a key role in all planning and all expansion initiatives. She is the executive responsible for oversight and financing of eOne’s productions. Margaret was formerly the Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Office of Barna-Alper Productions which was acquired by Entertainment One in September 2008.

Prior to joining Barna-Alper, O'Brien was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the YMCA of Greater Toronto. In addition, she was treasurer to their Board of Directors and a senior member of the strategic leadership team. O'Brien obtained her chartered accountancy designation at KPMG. She is currently serving as an executive on the board of the Canadian Media Production Association on which she holds the position of Treasurer. She was formerly the Treasurer on the board for Women in Film & Television - Toronto. She has been a frequent instructor at various industry educational initiatives such as the National Screen Institute - Totally Television.

Michael Kot, Senior Vice President, Factual Entertainment – Entertainment One Television

Michael Kot, Senior Vice President Factual, Entertainment One Television, oversees all original factual programming for the company’s television group. Kot and his team have eight series, as well as blue chip one-offs currently in production for a broad range of broadcasters. Series include PARTY AT TIFFANY'S, MEGA BUILDERS for Discovery Channels, BUILDER BOSS for HGTV Canada, SWEET FIX for Food Canada and PARTY MAMAS for Slice in Canada and Wealth TV in the US. Blue chip docs include WE WERE CHILDREN for APTN and the National Film Board and THE GREAT ESCAPE with Wildfire Television for History Television and Channel 4. Most recently, eOne closed a deal with Impossible Pictures to co-develop a slate of projects for the UK, the US and Canadian markets.

Prior to joining eOne, Kot was VP Original Factual Content for Canwest channels including Global Television, History Television, Mystery, National Geographic Canada and IFC. He was also responsible for overseeing programming, acquisitions and the general operations of BBC Canada. Some of the hundreds of hours of production and co-production he had commissioned include ratings hits: WILLIAM SHATNER'S WEIRD OR WHAT, ICE PILOTS, GREATEST TANK BATTLES, TRASHOPOLIS, OUTLAW BIKERS, MARCH OF THE DINOSAURS and STORMING JUNO. Under his leadership, ratings have realized double digit growth year over year for original programming.

Loren Mawhinney, Vice President, Factual Development – Entertainment One Television

Loren Mawhinney is responsible for all non-fiction at eOne Television, from documentaries to reality to format shows. As Vice President of Factual Development she oversees eOne's factual slate including MEGA BUILDERS, PARTY MAMAS, RE-VAMPED, OUTLAW BIKERS and the prestigious feature length docs, THE PIG FARM for CTV and FORCE OF NATURE: THE DAVID SUZUKI MOVIE for CBC/NFB.

Loren has been a senior broadcast production executive for more than 20 years. She is the Past-Chair of the Banff Television Festival Foundation Board and has served on the boards of the Canadian Film Centre and the Canadian Television Fund.

Tara Long, Vice President, US Alternative Programming – Entertainment One Television

Since joining eOne as VP of U.S. Alternative Programming, Tara has overseen and developed many programs including CHILL, a half hour series for TruTV, CRUNK RIDES (with Little Jon) for VH1 and THE OTHER HUDSONS for Oxygen.

Previously, Tara was at 51minds, where she worked on several smash hit TV series for VH1 including FLAVOR OF LOVE, I LOVE NEW YORK, ROCK OF LOVE, CHARM SCHOOL, GOTTI’S WAY, AMERICA’S SMARTEST MODEL, MY FAIR BRADY and THE SURREAL LIFE. She subsequently worked as Manager of Development at Grosso Jacobson where she oversaw all new development and helped move the 30-year-old company into the world of reality TV, selling two pilots, BULLET to TruTV and MAKE ME A PRINCESS to E!. After Grosso Jacobson, Tara was the VP of Development for BCII, a full service production company specializing in cable reality TV programming. At BCII, Tara developed and sold THE REAL 90210 to Bravo and YESI’S WORLD to Style Network. Tara also co-created and Executive Produced THE SINGLE: MONICA for Turner Networks which brought record-breaking ratings for Peachtree TV.

Larry Gilbert, Vice President, Current Programming – Entertainment One Television

Larry Gilbert joined Entertainment One Television in May of 2009 as Vice President, Current Programming. In this capacity he oversees all of eOne’s domestic and international television series, including Hell on Wheels for AMC, The Firm for NBC/Global, Rookie Blue for ABC/Global, Haven for Syfy/Showcase and Call Me Fitz for HBO Canada/DirecTV. Prior to joining eOne, Larry was Vice President, Television Development at Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions. During his time at Icon, Larry developed drama and comedy projects for major broadcast and cable networks, including ABC, CBS, UPN, AMC, Lifetime and USA; and produced the Emmy nominated ten-part docu-soap, Carrier, for PBS.

Larry started his career in entertainment at CBS as a Marketing Coordinator and has since held a variety of positions on his way to eOne. These include Post-Production Coordinator at New Line Cinema, where he worked on features such as Rush Hour and American History X; and Coordinator of Drama Development and Current Programming at UPN, where he managed television series including Veronica Mars and Kevin Hill, among others.

Joey Plager, Senior Vice President, Co-Productions – Entertainment One Television

As SVP Co-Productions, Joey works across the original programming and international sales divisions. He helps with the sourcing and pre-selling of all forms of television programming in the U.S., Canada and the international marketplace. Previously he has worked in executive capacities at Lifetime, overseeing the ambitious slate of low-budget, pre-buy films, as head of Co-Productions at Hearst Entertainment, and as V.P. Program Enterprises and Distribution at Showtime.

Joey began his career as a story analyst at CAA, before becoming story editor at Imagine Films. At Warner Bros., he segued from feature films to television, and then began concentrating on television movies where he has numerous executive producing credits for Lifetime, NBC, CBS and ABC.

Jen Chambers, Vice President, Creative Affairs – Entertainment One Television

Jen Chambers is based in eOne’s Los Angeles office and is responsible for all scripted development.
 
Before joining Entertainment One, Jen was employed at Maverick Television where she helped develop the company’s full slate of one-hour and half-hour projects including The Riches for FX. She also worked in the drama development department for Fox Network, working on projects such as The O.C., Wonderfalls, House, and Bones, after having started her career in the TV lit department at the Paradigm Agency.