Speaker Abby Greensfelder
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Abby Greensfelder is Co-CEO and Executive Producer at Half Yard Productions. With business partner, Sean Gallagher, Greensfelder’s passion for compelling television, unforgettable storytelling and her interest in social anthropology spurred her to start independent production company Half Yard Productions in 2006. Since inception, Half Yard has made hit series for 17 different networks – shows that appeal to a broad audience and that keenly focus on everyday characters and their often unimaginable stories. Whether viewers are following families living on refuge land in Discovery and Animal Planet’s critically acclaimed series, The Last Alaskansor channeling their inner bridezilla on TLC’s long-running series, Say Yes to the Dress or checking out the RV lifestyle on Travel Channel’s Big Time RV, Greensfelder likes to think Half Yard makes real reality TV. Realscreen magazine has designated Half Yard Productions one of its Global 100, its annual list of the world’s top non-fiction and unscripted production companies.
Prior to starting Half Yard Productions, Greensfelder was senior vice president of programming and development for Discovery Channel. Under her direction, Discovery launched many successful series that became signature programs for the network, including Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, MythBusters and American Chopper, in addition to award-winning specials like the Emmy-nominated The Flight that Fought Back and the critically-acclaimed Planet Earth. Greensfelder played a critical role in creating Discovery Channel Quest, an initiative that funded and filmed scientific expeditions around the world. She was named one of Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Next Generation: 35 under 30’.
Abby started her career in production with Transatlantic Films, a UK-based production and distribution company. She is a sought-after speaker and panelist at industry events, a contributor to Realscreen magazine, a member of the Maryland International Film Festival’s Advisory Board, an honorary member of Jewish Women International and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Greensfelder holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. A native Washingtonian, she is a keen photographer and a married mother of two very lively girls.
Half Yard Productions is a part of Red Arrow Entertainment Group (a ProSiebenSat.1 Group company).
Speaking on: Meet a Mentor: Abby Greensfelder, Half Yard Productions