BRUCE GERSH, EVP AND PRESIDENT OF PEOPLE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, PEOPLE EN ESPANOL AND HEAD OF FOUR M STUDIOS, TO HEADLINE 13TH ANNUAL INDEPENDENT TELEVISION FESTIVAL
From October 10-14, content creators and executives from across the globe will gather in Manchester, VT for ITVFest, the 13th annual Independent Television Festival sponsored by HBO. They'll all be joined by leading directors and producers, showrunners and representatives at the five-day festival, which showcases the best of independently produced episodic programming in drama, comedy, documentary, reality, and short form.
Keynoting this year’s festival is a fireside chat with Bruce Gersh, Executive VP and President of People, Entertainment Weekly and People en Español and Head of Four M Studios at Meredith Corporation. Gersh has operational oversight of all three brands, including print, digital and video content; sales and marketing; and brand business development. The Emmy-winning executive also leads Four M Studios, Meredith’s award-winning in-house television production company.
Additional ITVFest 2018 panelists include Kelly Edwards, VP of Content at HBO; David Person, Manager of Original Programming at IFC TV; Rebecca Agbe, VP of Programming at Sony Crackle; Jason Klorfein, Agent at The Gersh Agency; Michele Arteaga, Director of Acquisitions and Programming at Starz; Laura Fisher, CEO of Powderkeg Media; Sarah Murphy-Katz, Coordinator at ABC Entertainment, and many more.
Shows selected to screen at the festival and attend panel events come from both first-time creators and established, award-winning showrunners. With the majority of today's visual content being created outside of the major networks and studios, independent artists have become a central force within the entertainment industry, generating their own sustainable revenue streams and fanbases solely on the merits of their outstanding talent and engaging content before making connections with formal distribution networks. ITVFest provides these creators with constructive, applicable skills in order to help navigate the ever-evolving television industry and gives them a critical platform for decisionmakers and networks to view their content.
About Mr. Gersh
Bruce Gersh is President, PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly and PEOPLE en Espanol and Head of Four M Studios at Meredith Corporation. He reports to Meredith President and CEO, Tom Harty.
A veteran media and entertainment executive with experience spanning a broad range of business units, platforms and genres, Gersh joined Time Inc. in January 2016 to oversee business development in the Entertainment and Sports Groups. His purview was then expanded when he was named Senior Vice President, Brand Business Development, leading business development efforts across the U.S. brands, identifying and developing new extensions, revenue streams, and strategic partnerships, while managing existing partnerships and licensing programs.
For PEOPLE and EW, Gersh oversaw key media brand extensions, new revenue and business opportunities, expansion of vertical audiences and the formation of strategic partnerships and alliances, as well as the brand’s streaming network, PEOPLE TV.
Gersh, an Emmy-winning media executive, also leads Four M Studios (formerly Time Inc. Productions), the company’s television production company that creates original long form shows that have been bought by networks including ABC, Apple, Paramount, ID, Food Network, A+E, PBS and Netflix.
Prior to his role at Meredith, Gersh served as executive vice president and head of digital, strategy and branded entertainment at ITV Studios America, where he was responsible for brand development and strategic revenue partnerships, including merchandise licensing, publishing, music, integrated marketing and sales integrations.
Gersh previously served as managing director, global head of media and entertainment at Allison + Partners, where he was responsible for leading the agency’s entertainment solutions initiatives, and as senior vice president, strategy and operations, intellectual property at the William Morris Agency, where he worked with clients to help develop new and innovative business opportunities.
For eight years, Gersh worked at the Disney-ABC Television Group, including as senior vice president, business development, where he was responsible for all traditional and digital media business development opportunities across ABC Daytime, ABC Primetime, ABC Studios, ABC News, Soapnet and ABC Family. Gersh and the ABC.com team received an Interactive Television Emmy in 2006 for "Outstanding Achievement for Enhanced or Interactive Programming: New Delivery Platforms" for the website’s Full Episode Streaming Broadband Player.
Gersh began his career at Arthur Andersen. He graduated from CSUN with a degree in business administration, accounting theory and practice. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.
About Four M Studios
Four M Studios (formerly Time Inc. Productions), the television production division of Meredith Corporation, is a full-service production company creating premium long-form content distributed on all platforms globally. Formed in 2016, the division touts an in-house award-winning creative team, state-of-the-art studios and post-production facilities in New York and Los Angeles. The content and spirit of Meredith’s powerful and trusted iconic brands provide unlimited inspiration for Four M Studio shows. The Studio also develops shows independent of Meredith brands. The group won an Emmy in 2017 for “A Year in Space” on PBS, and its shows have aired on or are in development with ABC, Apple, Netflix, Paramount Network, FOX, A&E, Investigation Discovery and other major networks.