Ben Sherwood | |
---|---|
Born | Benjamin Berkley Sherwood February 12, 1964 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Education | Harvard University (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (MSt, MS) |
Occupation(s) | Author, journalist, entrepreneur |
Title | President, ABC News |
Term | 2010–2015 [1] |
Predecessor | David Westin [1] |
Successor | James Goldston [1] |
Spouse | Karen Kehela (m. 2003) |
Children | 2 |
Family | Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall (sister) |
Website | Official website |
Benjamin Berkley "Ben" Sherwood (born February 12, 1964) is an American writer, journalist, and producer who was formerly the President of Disney-ABC Television Group and ABC News.
Sherwood was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Los Angeles, California. [2] His mother, Dorothy Lipsey Romonek, was a trustee of the California Institute of the Arts. His father, Richard E. Sherwood, was a partner in a Los Angeles law firm, and long time leader of the American Jewish Committee. [3] [4] [5] [6]
In 1981, Sherwood graduated from Harvard-Westlake School), [7] (at the time, known as Harvard School for Boys), an independent university preparatory school in Los Angeles, California. In 1986, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College with an AB degree. From 1986–89, Sherwood was a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, and he and his sister, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, were the first brother and sister pair of Rhodes scholars. While at Oxford University, Sherwood was a member of the Oxford University Men's Basketball team that placed second at the 1987 B.U.S.F. National Championships. [3] [5]
From 1989–93, Sherwood was an Associate Producer and a Producer for ABC News' Primetime (then called PrimeTime Live) with hosts Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson. During that time, Sherwood was part of the ABC News Team that came under sniper fire in Sarajevo, Bosnia in August 1992.[ citation needed ]
In 1997, Sherwood joined NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw as a Producer, a Senior Producer, and ultimately the Senior Broadcast Producer, where he was present during coverage of the September 11 attacks. Sherwood left NBC News in January 2002.[ citation needed ]
In April 2004, Sherwood was the Executive Producer of the ABC's Good Morning America , and on December 3, 2010, Sherwood was appointed President of ABC News in New York. [8]
In January 2015, Sherwood was named President of Disney-ABC Television Group, and Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks. [9] Following the Disney acquisition of Fox in March 2019, Sherwood departed the company. [10]
Sherwood’s non-fiction work has been published in The New York Times , The Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , Newsweek , Parade Magazine , and O Magazine . In 1996, Sherwood wrote his first novel, Red Mercury, published under the pseudonym Max Barclay by Dove Books. The story involves a nuclear terror threat at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. President Bill Clinton reportedly "devoured" the book before traveling to Atlanta to attend the Olympics. [11]
In 2000, while working at NBC Nightly News , Sherwood wrote a novel called The Man Who Ate The 747, published by Bantam Books. The tragicomic tale tells the story of an investigator for a fictional Guinness Book of Records who travels to Superior, Nebraska to authenticate a record attempt involving a man eating a Boeing 747. The record keeper meets an introverted and misguided Nebraska farmer who is ingesting the 747 by grinding parts of the plane into gritty dust. By consuming the plane, the farmer hopes to prove the size and scope of his love for a woman who lives in the small town.[ citation needed ]
In 2004, Sherwood published The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud , which follows a young man's journey between the worlds of life and death, and explores his bonds with loved ones in both. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud was made into a major motion picture starring Zac Efron, directed by Burr Steers, [12] produced by Marc E. Platt and released from Universal Pictures on July 30, 2010 under the new title Charlie St. Cloud . [13]
In January 2009, his first non-fiction book, The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life, was published by Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. The Survivors Club explores human survival in all its forms. The book became a New York Times bestseller and has been published in more than 15 languages. [14]
In January 2009, expanding upon the themes of his most recent book, Sherwood launched a website called www.TheSurvivorsClub.org, an online resource center and support network for people facing all manners of adversity. [15] [16]
The Survivors Club website is a social enterprise dedicated to helping people survive and thrive in the face of every kind of adversity including health, financial, family, and extreme challenges. In August 2010, the website re-launched as part of the Hearst Digital Network, a division of the Hearst Corporation. [17]
In 2003, Sherwood married Karen Lisa Kehela in a Jewish ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. [3] [18] [19] Kehela is the Co-Chair of Imagine Films, a division of film and television production company Imagine Entertainment. [20] They have two sons. [2]
Sherwood is fluent in French, Chinese, and Russian. [5]
Sherwood is a member of the Board of Directors of City Year (Los Angeles), California, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. [21]
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, are in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Mark Burnett is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. He created and produced the reality shows The Apprentice, Survivor, The Voice, and Shark Tank.
Peter William Krause is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on Sports Night (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under (2001–2005), Nick George on Dirty Sexy Money (2007–2009), Adam Braverman on Parenthood (2010–2015), Benjamin Jones on The Catch (2016–2017), and Bobby Nash on 9-1-1 (2018–present).
Robert Allen Iger is an American media business executive who currently serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the president of ABC between 1994 and 1995 and the president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then served as executive chairman until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. At the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20, 2022, following the unscheduled and immediate dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek.
Joshua Ian Schwartz is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series The O.C. which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for developing The CW's series Gossip Girl based on the book of the same name and for co-creating NBC's action-comedy-spy series, Chuck.
Benjamin A. Foster is an American actor. He has had roles in films including The Punisher (2004), X-Men: The Last Stand and Alpha Dog, The Messenger and Pandorum, The Mechanic (2011), Contraband (2012), Kill Your Darlings and Lone Survivor, The Program (2015), and Leave No Trace (2018). He was nominated for a Saturn Award and a Satellite Award for his role in 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and won an Independent Spirit Award for portraying Tanner Howard in Hell or High Water (2016). He also acted as Russell Corwin in Six Feet Under (2003–2005). He had a recurring role portraying a high school student named Eli on the Judd Apatow show, Freaks and Geeks (2000), which ran for one season.
Ben Feldman is an American actor and producer. Throughout his career, Feldman has undertaken roles on stage, including the Broadway play The Graduate along with more prominent roles in television series such as his role as Jonah Simms in the NBC sitcom Superstore. He has also played lead characters in films including The Perfect Man with Hilary Duff.
The Interviews: An Oral History of Television is a project of the nonprofit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, that records interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry.
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is part of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.
20th Television is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment distributes the television series produced by 20th Television in home media formats through the 20th Century Home Entertainment banner.
Brian Scott Frons is an American television executive and the former president of ABC Daytime.
"Greatest Hits" is the 21st episode of the third season of Lost and 70th episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by supervising producer Stephen Williams. The episode first aired on May 16, 2007, on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. "Greatest Hits" was viewed by 12 million Americans and was well received by critics. Lost's editors received a Golden Reel Award nomination.
Lost is an American science fiction drama television series created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof that aired on ABC from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 episodes. The show contains elements of supernatural fiction, and follows the survivors of a commercial jet airliner flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, after the plane crashes on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. Episodes typically feature a primary storyline set on the island, augmented by flashback or flashforward sequences which provide additional insight into the involved characters.
David A. Permut is an American film producer. He has worked on dozens of films over 40 years, and has received both Academy and Emmy Award nominations.
"LA X" comprises the 104th and 105th episodes of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost, marking the premiere of the sixth and final season. It was written by show runners/executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by executive producer Jack Bender. Both parts were aired on February 2, 2010, on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada, and on February 4, 2010, on RTÉ Two in Ireland.
Charlie St. Cloud is a 2010 American supernatural drama film based on Ben Sherwood's novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, published in 2004 by Bantam Books. The film is directed by Burr Steers and stars Zac Efron and Amanda Crew. The story is about Charlie St. Cloud's choice between keeping a promise he made to his younger brother, who died in a car accident, or going after the girl he loves. In some markets the film used the complete title of the book.
This is a list of significant events involving American television in 2011. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel launches, closures and re-branding, as well as information about controversies and carriage disputes.
The 7th Youth in Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Youth in Film Association, honored outstanding youth performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film and television for the 1984-1985 season, and took place on December 15, 1985, at the Ambassador Hotel's historical Coconut Grove night club in Los Angeles, California. Hosting the ceremony that year was 10-year-old Drew Barrymore.