Mitch Semel

Experience

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  Public Broadcasting Service

  Jan 1990 - Jan 1992

  Vice President, Programming

  Supervise national program development, production, and funding of limited series, ongoing series, and specials in all content areas (news, public affairs, documentary, science, history, children's, family, drama, performance, culture, and how-to).

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  Comedy Central

  Jan 1992 - Jan 1994

  Senior Vice President, Programming

  First head of programming for newly-launched Comedy Central channel. Add acclaimed series "Politically Incorrect" and "Absolutely Fabulous" and develop ongoing topical comedy news coverage with Al Franken, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, and Arianna Huffington.

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  NBCUniversal Media, LLC

  Jan 1994 - Jan 1996

  Executive Producer, NBC Productions

  Consulting Producer, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"; Executive Producer, "Later with Greg Kinnear".

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  CBS Corporation

  Jan 1996 - Jan 2003

  Senior Vice President, Late-Night & East Coast Programming, CBS Entertainment

  Lead East Coast prime-time program development and production, including series starring Danny Aiello and Richard Dreyfuss. Also oversee all network late-night programming, including "Late Show with David Letterman"​, "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn"​, "Late Late Show with Tom Snyder"​, and "The Howard Stern Radio Show".

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  Semel Media

  Jan 2003 - now

  Founder • Executive Producer

  Build new online networks, produce domestic and international content, curate programming for mobile channels, integrate video on social networks, develop media literacy curricula, and improve video production processes. Clients include Cowboy State Daily, TIME, People/Entertainment Weekly, Tribune Publishing, AccuWeather, US Department of Defense, Virgin Mobile, The Republic of Georgia's National Communications Commission, Imedi TV, DreamWorks Classics, Radio City Rockettes, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, The Hallmark Channel, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, SAP, and Avidyne. Show less

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  Viacom

  Jan 2004 - Jan 2006

  Oversee development and production of original series, specials, and pilots, including "Fatherhood"​, "Hi-Jinks"​, and "Funniest Mom in America". Oversee development and production of original series, specials, and pilots, including "Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg", "I Did Not Know That" (Paul Reiser, Harry Shearer), "Jump the Shark" (Jon Hein), and "TV Land Confidential".

  • Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Nick@Nite

    Jan 2004 - Jan 2006

  • Senior Vice President, Original Programming, TV Land

    Jan 2004 - Jan 2006
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  CNN

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2009

  Senior Executive Producer

  Produce nightly Campbell Brown primetime series, D.L. Hughley weekend series, award-winning Roland Martin election specials, and a variety of new-concept pilots for CNN and HLN.

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  OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2010

  Executive Producer, "The Gayle King Show"

  Produce, staff, format, and build new studio for signature live morning show for channel launch. Create TV and radio simulcast with Sirius-XM and Westwood One.

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  Onion, Inc.

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2012

  General Manager

  Transition the satirical brand from print to digital via cable series, website, mobile apps, and social feeds. Oversee all editorial platforms of award-winning satirical news organization, including The Onion newspaper and books, TheOnion.com, the Onion News Network, TV series “Onion News Network” and “Onion SportsDome", and Onion YouTube Creators channel.

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  HuffPost

  Jan 2012 - Jan 2014

  Senior Vice President & Executive Editor, HuffPost Live

  Co-design, launch, and manage the platform characterized as "the most social video network for news and information." Through own site and mobile apps, syndication via AOL Network, distribution on all connected TV platforms, and groundbreaking use of Google Hangout and custom-built live commenting platform, the HuffPost Live streaming video network in its first 2.5 years delivered two billion video views, attracted one million community comments, featured over 8,000 guests from more than 80 countries, and garnered multiple awards for innovation and content, including:* Winner, Mashable's Innovation Index Award in Media* Webby Award winner, Video Channels/Networks: News & Information* Winner, Digiday Video Award for Best Digital Platform Show less

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  Burst.it, LLC

  Jan 2014 - now

  Board Of Advisors

  Burst is a leading video technology company that helps content creators unlock the power of mobile video. The Burst platform is utilized by media companies, publishers, and brands (including Sinclair Broadcasting, Fox Sports Australia, AccuWeather, and New England Sports Network) who want to leverage the power of both user-generated and controlled content. Burst’s proprietary technology solves the challenges of creating, managing, publishing and monetizing mobile video across all screens with its innovative, mobile-to-broadcast cloud platform. Show less

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  Katie Couric Media

  Jan 2015 - Jan 2017

  President

  Develop and produce high-quality factual and scripted programming for broadcast, cable, streaming, and digital platforms. Productions include "Gender Revolution"​ documentary for National Geographic Channel, "Higher Ground"​ drama for CBS, "Flint" TV movie for Lifetime, "Katie Couric"​ podcast for Earwolf, "Scraps" food series for FYI, and "Full Plate"​ cooking show for Sur la Table.

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  Long Island University

  Jan 2016 - Jan 2018

  Adjunct Professor, Media Arts

  Teach WPT 643 (Intellectual Property & Cutting the Deal) to second-year M.F.A. candidates in the TV Writers Studio program. Focus on selling, producing, promoting, distributing, and protecting original pieces of work for television; challenges of developing concepts; getting an attorney, agent, or manager; selling ideas to production companies, studios, and networks; working for showrunners; and the rapidly-changing nature of TV distribution and consumption, including streaming networks, social platforms, and TV apps. Show less

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  CBS Interactive

  Jan 2017 - Jan 2018

  Executive Producer, CBSN

  Oversee editorial and production for CBSN (always-on news video livestream on all devices), CBSNews.com, and CBS News social feeds.

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  Take Flight Aviation, New York

  Jan 2019 - now

  Chief Flight Instructor

  As Chief Instructor, provide professional (Part 141) and recreational (Part 61) flight and ground instruction at an AOPA Best Flight School in the Nation; oversee 15 certified flight instructors teaching private, commercial, instrument, and multi-engine courses; provide new aircraft delivery and on-location transition training; and develop new flight training curriculum, client services, and digital and video marketing. Commercial Pilot (Airplane Single Engine Land; Airplane Multiengine Land; Instrument Airplane), Gold Seal Flight Instructor (Airplane Single Engine; Airplane Multiengine; Instrument Airplane), Remote Pilot (Small Unmanned Aircraft System), Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP), Ground Instructor (Advanced Instrument). Show less