Original Productions CEO Philip D. Segal Unveils 2016

BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Philip D. Segal, Original Productions' CEO & Executive Producer announced changes and promotions of his executive team at the company's recent quarterly town hall meeting.  Sarah Whalen has been given oversight of OP's entire slate of programming, as well as the OP development teams in her role as Executive Vice President Programming and Development (announced in June 2015). "Sarah joined OP in 2002 and has been an integral part of the huge success of many of our longest running hit series," said Segal. In her expanded role she will be supervising all of OP's active shows, and new series scheduled to go into the field.  Whalen will also have two separate development teams reporting to her, as she increases series options for OP's broadcast partners. 

Whalen was promoted to Vice President Programming in 2011 and Senior Vice President Programming in 2014. Fan favorites such as Appalachian Outlaws, Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Shelby the Swamp Man, and Wild Justice have been under her supervision. Sarah Whalen is a native of Bluefield, West Virginia, and holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lisa Behlendorf has been promoted to Senior Vice President Production from Vice President Production, a post she has held since 2014. "For the past two years Lisa has worked closely with our broadcast partners to insure well-produced and fiscally responsible product is being delivered," said Segal. Behlendorf joined Original Productions 12 years ago as a corporate production accountant with OP's Max Post, utilizing her extensive production accounting experience from the feature film industry. A native of Los Angeles, Lisa Behlendorf is a graduate of UCLA.

"We are also proud to announce that Susan Terrill has been promoted to Vice President of Talent, expanding her role at Original Productions to meet the challenges of next year's extensive production and development commitments," said Segal. A native of Canada with an MA Cinema Studies from NYU's Tisch School of Arts, Terrill has been the Development Casting Director at OP for the past three years contributing to the signature OP character driven content.  

In the final quarter of 2015, OP produced Jay Leno's Garage for CNBC, the highest ranking series in the history of the network, which has been renewed for a second season. The prod co also premiered Badlands, Texas for National Geographic. Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove has just been announced (12.18.15), with Season 12 of the multi Emmy® Award winning series Deadliest Catch for Discovery currently in production. OP produces 250 hours of authentic unscripted programming each year, making it one of the largest innovators of content in the US.

SOURCE Original Productions