GOOD WITCH PRODUCTION BIOS ORLY ADELSON (Executive Producer) Orly Adelson is one of the few executives with the full range of experience working in event programming, scripted, live shows, reality and syndicated series. For her work, she has received and been nominated for more than 60 awards, including Primetime Emmy Awards, SAG Awards, Independent Spirit Awards and the AFI Awards. For her success in every major day part and television genre, she is a constant fixture on prestigious industry lists, most recently The Hollywood Reporter s Reality Power List and Variety s Women of Impact. Additional placements have included the Hollywood Reporter s Women in Entertainment: Power 100, Sports Business Journal s 100 most powerful people in sports in America, and Billboard s Women in Music. Adelson is the only female executive to appear on the top 100 lists across entertainment, music and sports. She also earned the distinction of being amongst the leading business executives recognized amongst the Women Making a Difference in 2015 by Los Angeles Business Journal. Adelson served as the President of ITV Studios America, the US flagship of ITV, from January 2014 to July 2015. In this role, Adelson oversaw all aspects of ITV Studio America s operations on both the East and West Coasts and the company s extensive slate of series with major networks and syndicators, including the highly-anticipated variety series Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris and signature shows Hell s Kitchen and The First 48. Over her tenure, Adelson shepherded a 35% increase in the company s sales to network and cable channels. This included the establishment of the scripted television department at the beginning of 2014, which produced two cable straight-to-series projects ( Good Witch and Texas Rising ). This solidified ITV as an upcoming power-player in the scripted space. Additional unscripted series include After the First 48, the Emmy nominated game show The Chase, Cesar 911, The Car Chasers, #RichKids of Beverly Hills, Barmageddon and syndicated talk show The Bill Cunningham Show. Additionally, Adelson solidified development deals with entertainment rights holder Komixx, which gives ITV Studios America access to Komixx s exclusive first look relationship with publishing powerhouse The Random House Group. She also finalized a first look development deal with Hoodlum for series in the scripted space and managed The Lab, the ITV Studios America joint venture with Reshet, Israel s fastest growing broadcaster. Prior to ITV Studios America, Adelson was President of dick clark productions (dcp). Adelson s leadership at dick clark productions resulted in the company s record growth in ratings, revenue and profit. In addition to key success and growth in the awards and live event programming space, Adelson initiated an expansion into syndicated television. She oversaw and/or executive produced all of the company's high profile properties including So You Think You Can Dance, The American Music Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, The Academy of Country Music Awards and more. It is through this hands-on experience that Adelson developed her unique ability to see every property through a 360 lens, finding creative ways to enhance the viewer experience and fan engagement from every
HALLMARK CHANNEL / GOOD WITCH Production Bios Page 2 angle for all their iconic shows. Adelson also saw dcp through its high profile sale and was instrumental in engineering the Keshet-dcp joint venture for developing and financing unscripted television programming in English and Spanish. Prior to her tenure at dcp, Adelson was recognized as one of the most prominent and distinguished producers in independent entertainment development, production and financing, creating a dynamic and diverse slate of high profile properties including scripted television series, movies and reality shows. Adelson s remarkable eye and deep industry relationships span the globe reaching Israel, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, Canada and more. She has long been a liaison between the emerging Israeli creative force and the United States and throughout her career has created and held oversight on programs that fast became global pop culture phenomena, having a remarkable cultural impact in both the U.S. and abroad. Adelson is on the board of Women in Film, where she shares her commitment to helping young women advance in entertainment, communications and media. She also served as Co-Chair of the Realscreen West Advisory Board in 2015 and her philanthropic efforts include a post on the advisory board of the USO Organization. A lieutenant for two years in the Israeli army, with one year stationed in the Sinai Desert, Adelson credits her military training for her work ethic, her drive and her desire to empower others on her team. She believes in combining creativity with business to look at everything with a fresh eye and she has the remarkable ability to spot great promise - in television projects, and in talent, writers, producers and the team of people she leads. Her business savvy in entertainment has resulted in countless opportunities being given to young talent with little experience but with great vision and unparalleled work ethic. Adelson earned degrees in sociology, musicology and dance at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance respectively. She resides in Los Angeles and is the mother of two children. University Graduate School before marrying and moving to the U.S, she began her career in the advertising trade in a three-year staff producing position at Bozell, Jacobs, Kenton and Eckhardt, working on prominent accounts including their popular Chrysler campaign. Adelson entered the arena of television movie production as Vice President of Development at Brandman Productions, where she executive-produced her first project, the NBC telefilm Shoot First. She then joined Roger Gimbel as an independent producer at Carolco-Gimbel, which, after three years, became Gimbel-Adelson Productions. While there, Adelson served as an executive overseeing the acclaimed movie Chernobyl: The Final Warning (TNT), and executive produced Desperate Rescue (NBC), Murder Between Friends (NBC) and The Perfect Mother (CBS). On her own, Adelson produced Keeper of the Light, a documentary on the state of Israel directed by Academy Award -winning filmmaker Chuck Workman. Adelson also
HALLMARK CHANNEL / GOOD WITCH Production Bios Page 3 executive-produced the Hallmark Channel Original Movie The Good Witch, the network s highest-rated film of 2008, The Good Witch s Garden, The Good Witch s Gift, The Good Witch s Family, The Good Witch s Charm, The Good Witch s Destiny and The Good Witch s Wonder. A Renaissance woman with interests ranging from art, music, theater and all forms of sports, Adelson lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. JONATHAN ESKENAS (Executive Producer) Jonathan Eskenas has built a reputation as a top executive producer of highly rated and critically acclaimed television series, movies and miniseries. In August 2013, he took the exciting step of launching his own company, Jon Eskenas Productions (JEP), where he continues to develop and produce various types of entertainment across all media. Eskenas recently finished production of the Hallmark Channel Original Movies Hello, It s Me starring Kellie Martin and Charming Christmas starring Julie Benz, both based on well-known novels. He will soon begin production on season two of Good Witch, Hallmark Channel s alltime highest rated series, based on the network s immensely popular movie franchise of the same name. Eskenas also recently executive produced the Lifetime Television movie The Choking Game, true crime series Deadly Sins for Investigation Discovery and two high profile movies for Lifetime: ripped-from-the-headlines true story The Bling Ring and critically acclaimed biopic Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story, winner of the Canadian Screen Award for best television movie. He currently has several projects in various stages of development and production at multiple networks. Among his additional series credits, Eskenas supervised development and production of Playmakers, ESPN s first original dramatic series, which was honored as one of AFI s top ten shows of the year; and Tilt, ESPN s gritty series set around the world of professional poker. Eskenas spearheaded and produced the groundbreaking internet series Ten Dates From Hell for TBS and has also developed multiple animated series for children and teen networks. Before opening JEP, Eskenas was Vice President of Development at Dick Clark Productions, where he oversaw the company s scripted programming department. Previous to that, he was President of Orly Adelson Productions, one of television s leading independent production companies. FRANK SIRACUS (Executive Producer) Executive Producer and founding partner of Whizbang Films, Frank Siracusa has produced more than 80 hours of television, including series, TV movies and miniseries for Hollywood s major networks and studios including Disney,
HALLMARK CHANNEL / GOOD WITCH Production Bios Page 4 Paramount, ESPN, Dreamworks and American Zoetrope. Siracusa executive produced ZOS: Zone of Separation, an eight-part drama series about the life and death struggle to enforce an UN-brokered ceasefire in a fictionalized war-torn Balkan town, starring Lolita Davidovitch and Colm Meaney. An Emmy Award Winning producer, Siracusa has maintained strong connections with broadcasters and distributors worldwide, making Whizbang one of the most renowned film and television companies in Canada. Some of Siracusa s television production credits include Due South, a television movie-turnedsitcom series for Canada s CTV and CBS and Men With Brooms, starring Paul Gross and Leslie Nielsen, a pilot for CBS. He has also produced the television movie CodeBreakers and series Tilt for ESPN, Martha: Behind Bars, Murder Most Likely, Common Ground, On Hostile Ground, One True Love, Santa Who?, The One for Disney/ABC, Crash Course for the Lifetime Network and The Good Witch, The Good Witch s Garden, The Good Witch s Gift, The Good Witch s Family, The Good Witch s Charm The Good Witch s Destiny and The Good Witch s Wonder all for Hallmark Channel. In 2009, Siracusa executive produced three episodes of the series Cra$h & Burn for the Canadian network Showcase and in 2008, he executive produced the two-part miniseries, The Trojan Horse and co-produced Passchendaele about a bloody World War I battle, which won five Genie Awards. In addition, Siracusa has won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children s Special for Summer s End and has been nominated for three Gemini Awards for producing the projects Due South, H2O and Murder Most Likely. CRAIG PRYCE (Executive Producer) Craig Pryce was born in Toronto, Ontario, where he graduated with a degree in film production from York University. While attending York, he received a scholarship from Famous Players Theatres and made a short film that was sold to the CBC. Upon graduating, he used this sale to negotiate a deal to direct three shorts for the network. Pryce spent the next two years raising funds to make his first feature film, Revenge of the Radioactive Reporter. The campy horror film went on to win Best Independent Feature at The Houston International Film Festival and was sold to MCA/Universal Studios, who released it in 65 countries. Following up on his first success, Pryce went on to direct the horror flick The Dark, starring Neve Campbell. The film won best horror movie at The Festival of the Americas, receiving solid reviews and was picked up by HBO, Miramax and Polygram Film Entertainment. Pryce s directing credits feature several television series, including Psi Factor for CBS/Eyemark, Goosebumps for Fox and Zack Files for ABC Family. With more than 50 episodic credits to his name, he has received three Director Guild nominations and a Gemini nomination for direction in comedy and family entertainment. Pryce also directed several episodes of the series Dark Oracle, which won an International Emmy.
HALLMARK CHANNEL / GOOD WITCH Production Bios Page 5 Returning to long form, Pryce directed the romantic comedy TV movie I Me Wed for Lifetime, starring Erica Durance and the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, For the Love of Grace, starring Mark Consuelos. Other directing credits for Hallmark Channel include The Good Witch the network s highest-rated film of 2007, The Good Witch s Garden, The Good Witch s Gift, The Good Witch s Family, The Good Witch s Destiny and The Good Witch s Wonder. Pryce also directed a block of episodes for the hit Disney Channel series Life with Derek and the Canadian YTV series, Family Biz. SUE TENNEY (Executive Producer / Writer) - Sue Tenney, a television writer and executive producer ( 7 th Heaven, Life is Wild, The Exes ) and has developed a multitude of dramas and comedies with several prominent Hollywood production companies (ACME Productions (US), Davis Entertainment, Zipline Productions), as well as with many high-profile independent producers (Michael Edelstein Desperate Housewives, Jeffrey Kramer The Practice, Jonathan Prince The Cleaner ). Additionally, she has sold pilots to The WB, The CW and Lifetime networks. In her prolific career thus far, Tenney has produced close to 200 hours of network television, personally penning over 60 scripts. Currently, Tenney is executive producer and show runner for Debbie Macomber s Cedar Cove, a Hallmark Channel Original Primetime Series. --HALLMARK CHANNEL--