UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – Feb 15, 2018 – Promoting two top execs from within its programming ranks, NBC today named Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta Co-Presidents, Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment. The seasoned execs, who together have helped cement NBC’s status as the No. 1 network in their respective roles as Executive Vice Presidents of Drama and Comedy, will report directly to NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt.
“Lisa and Tracey have impeccable taste, strong leadership and a deep understanding of the NBC brand,” Greenblatt said. “It was Lisa who was one of the first to discover and cultivate what is now the phenomena of ‘This Is Us,’ and she continues to bring that astute eye to all the she does for NBC; and Tracey has shepherded in a new era of smart comedies, reigniting audiences to once again tune in on Thursday nights. Their relationships with top showrunners and talent are second to none, and I have no doubt their combined experience and expertise will build on the incredible momentum the network has right now.”
Katz joined NBC as Executive Vice President of Drama in July 2016 and has since been overseeing the buying and development of all one-hour projects as well as shepherding the pilots and first seasons of all new dramas. In her role at NBC, she developed the military drama “The Brave” as well as the anticipated upcoming midseason series “Good Girls” from Jenna Bans and “Rise” from Jason Katims. In her previous role at 20th Century Fox Television, Katz developed two of the biggest broadcast hits with Dan Fogelman’s “This Is Us” for NBC and Lee Daniels’ and Danny Strong’s “Empire” for FOX (with Imagine TV). During her 12 years at the studio, Katz developed the long-running global hit “Bones” (FOX, Hart Hanson, Barry Josephson) as well as “Star” (FOX, Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy), “Sleepy Hollow” (FOX, Alex Kurtzman & Bob Orci), “Lie to Me” (FOX, Sam Baum, Imagine TV) and “The Unit (CBS, Shawn Ryan and David Mamet). Before joining 20th, Katz started her career at Brillstein-Grey where she worked for seven years on both comedy and drama series, including “The Sopranos,” “Just Shoot Me,” and “The Steve Harvey Show.”
Pakosta has been at NBCUniversal since 2011, where she began as Executive Vice President of Comedy for Universal Television before being recruited to run comedy at the network in 2015. During her time at NBC, Pakosta developed the shows that make up the new NBC comedy brand, including “The Good Place” and “Superstore” as well as new series “A.P. Bio” and “Champions.” At Universal Television, Pakosta shepherded critically acclaimed and award-winning comedies “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (FOX, Mike Schur, Dan Goor), “The Mindy Project (FOX/Hulu, Mindy Kaling) and “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix, Tina Fey, Robert Carlock) among many others. Prior to working at Universal Television, Pakosta was the partner at Green Mountain West, Craig Ferguson’s production company for CBS Television Studios, which included a first-look development deal at CBS. Previously she served as Executive Vice President of Comedy Development at The WB where she co-ran the comedy department and developed many projects, including hits such as “Reba,” “What I Like About You” and “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”
“Lisa and Tracey have impeccable taste, strong leadership and a deep understanding of the NBC brand,” Greenblatt said. “It was Lisa who was one of the first to discover and cultivate what is now the phenomena of ‘This Is Us,’ and she continues to bring that astute eye to all the she does for NBC; and Tracey has shepherded in a new era of smart comedies, reigniting audiences to once again tune in on Thursday nights. Their relationships with top showrunners and talent are second to none, and I have no doubt their combined experience and expertise will build on the incredible momentum the network has right now.”
Katz joined NBC as Executive Vice President of Drama in July 2016 and has since been overseeing the buying and development of all one-hour projects as well as shepherding the pilots and first seasons of all new dramas. In her role at NBC, she developed the military drama “The Brave” as well as the anticipated upcoming midseason series “Good Girls” from Jenna Bans and “Rise” from Jason Katims. In her previous role at 20th Century Fox Television, Katz developed two of the biggest broadcast hits with Dan Fogelman’s “This Is Us” for NBC and Lee Daniels’ and Danny Strong’s “Empire” for FOX (with Imagine TV). During her 12 years at the studio, Katz developed the long-running global hit “Bones” (FOX, Hart Hanson, Barry Josephson) as well as “Star” (FOX, Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy), “Sleepy Hollow” (FOX, Alex Kurtzman & Bob Orci), “Lie to Me” (FOX, Sam Baum, Imagine TV) and “The Unit (CBS, Shawn Ryan and David Mamet). Before joining 20th, Katz started her career at Brillstein-Grey where she worked for seven years on both comedy and drama series, including “The Sopranos,” “Just Shoot Me,” and “The Steve Harvey Show.”
Pakosta has been at NBCUniversal since 2011, where she began as Executive Vice President of Comedy for Universal Television before being recruited to run comedy at the network in 2015. During her time at NBC, Pakosta developed the shows that make up the new NBC comedy brand, including “The Good Place” and “Superstore” as well as new series “A.P. Bio” and “Champions.” At Universal Television, Pakosta shepherded critically acclaimed and award-winning comedies “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (FOX, Mike Schur, Dan Goor), “The Mindy Project (FOX/Hulu, Mindy Kaling) and “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix, Tina Fey, Robert Carlock) among many others. Prior to working at Universal Television, Pakosta was the partner at Green Mountain West, Craig Ferguson’s production company for CBS Television Studios, which included a first-look development deal at CBS. Previously she served as Executive Vice President of Comedy Development at The WB where she co-ran the comedy department and developed many projects, including hits such as “Reba,” “What I Like About You” and “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”
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