Long time TV producer to be chief creative officer and co-president, content production
NEW YORK and TORONTO – Blue Ant Media announced today the appointment of Emmy-award winning producer and long time television and film executive Laura Michalchyshyn as chief creative officer and co-president, content production, Blue Ant Studios, effective immediately.
In this newly created role, Michalchyshyn will oversee creative across multiple Blue Ant Media businesses while co-managing and growing Blue Ant Studios alongside co-president, Blue Ant Studios, Sam Sniderman, says the company press release.
Her key focus will be growing the company’s unscripted and scripted production slate in North America while also forging new partnerships with American partners and platforms. Based in New York, she reports to Blue Ant Media’s CEO and co-founder Michael MacMillan.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Laura since our Alliance Atlantis days together. Her talent, knowledge of the industry, and experience working on both sides of the US/Canada border will take Blue Ant Studios’ production portfolio to a new level of excellence,” said MacMillan, in the release. “Her key role symbolizes our commitment to growing our production footprint within North America, which is critical to our success in creating and owning more content.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Blue Ant Studios to help lead the growth of their content and production business,” added Michalchyshyn. “The relationships I’m fortunate to have built with amazing creative talent are the focus of my work. I look forward to bringing a diverse range of exciting new projects to the dynamic, growing international media market.”
This new role is meant to boost the strategic growth of Blue Ant Studio’s unscripted and scripted projects while giving the studio a foothold in New York, where Michalchyshyn will be based. She is also tasked with bringing more projects to the U.S. from the company’s international production houses.
The newly appointed SVP of unscripted content, Jennifer Harkness, based in Los Angeles, will report directly to Michalchyshyn. Also working out of the L.A. office are co-president Sam Sniderman and Dan Lubetkin, SVP of scripted content. In addition, reporting directly to Michalchyshyn is Patrick de Visscher, development and production manager, who joins the Blue Ant Studios New York office, reads the release.
Michalchyshyn has produced fiction and non-fiction for many networks and platforms including Netflix, Hulu, CNN, HBO, Showtime, AMC, Discovery, BBC, Ovation TV, CBC, EPIX, and Sundance Channel. In addition, she has consulted with content companies, SVOD, and OTT platforms including Blue Ant Media (since 2018), Kew Media, EPIX, Lionsgate, and Paramount TV.
Her most recent roles include several years serving as president of Sundance Productions, which she co-founded with Robert Redford and together executive-produced the Emmy winning Momentum Generation (HBO) Death Row Stories (CNN), Chicagoland (CNN), All The President’s Men Revisited (Discovery), The American West (AMC), Ocean Warriors (Animal Planet), and The March (PBS).
She also produced director Dawn Porter’s Bobby Kennedy for President, a critically-acclaimed Netflix documentary series, released in 2018. She has also won three news and documentary Emmys, as well as awards from GLAAD, IDA, Banff TV, the Environmental Media Association and the Peabody Awards.
Michalchyshyn has also held senior executive roles at Sundance Channel, Alliance Atlantis, and Discovery.
