The Television Academy Foundation today named three new members to its board of directors: Noted entertainment attorney Allison Binder and Metzger Iwashina Media Co-Founder Kevin Iwashina were elected to three-year terms, and Banijay Americas’ CEO Ben Samek was selected as a chair appointee for a one-year term.
“We are thrilled to welcome these three exceptional leaders whose deep industry expertise and relationships will continue to fuel the accelerated growth of the Foundation’s emerging talent initiatives,” said Tina Perry, chair of the Television Academy Foundation. “Their participation and contributions will elevate our programs and provide more opportunities for the future industry workforce.”
A longtime leader within the Television Academy, Binder has served as its treasurer and secretary and continues to provide guidance as a member of the Bylaws Committee and the Professional Representatives peer group. Binder is a partner at the entertainment law firm Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher LLP where she represents award-winning and up-and-coming writers, directors, producers, authors, actors and production companies.
Iwashina is the founder of Audivisuel, a film and documentary sales, distribution and finance advisory company. His career milestones include brokering the landmark $75 million sale of Hamilton to The Walt Disney Company, facilitating the sale of the first original documentaries to Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+ and assembling financing and distribution for the Oscar-winning films Crash and The Hurt Locker. Iwashina most recently handled the sale of the Broadway live performance of Merrily We Roll Along to Sony Pictures Classics as well as the West End live performance of Hadestown to Bleecker Street Media. His credits include the Andscape/Hulu Original documentary short Hoops, Hopes & Dreams; the Emmy-nominated Netflix original documentary Long Shot; and Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
Samek is CEO of Banijay Americas, overseeing its independent production studios across two continents with a portfolio that includes Emmy Award-winning scripted, unscripted, documentary, sports and live-event content. He has stewarded the company through a series of landmarkmergers and acquisitions that has helped position Banijay in the top tier of global independentcontent producers for broadcast, cable, streaming and digital media. Samek also spearheaded the construction of Banijay Studios Brasil, the largest independent production facility in LatinAmerica.
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