Speaker Lauren Zalaznick
Lauren Zalaznick is a highly respected business leader who has devoted her career to transforming the cultural landscape.
Zalaznick began in film, producing award-winning independent features. Today, she plays a major role in media and tech as a senior advisor at BCG and advisor to CEOs and founders across a range of top-tier digital and media businesses. During her television career, Zalaznick held progressive positions of leadership at both Viacom (now Paramount Global) and NBC Universal. During her tenure at NBCU as Chair, Entertainment & Digital Networks, ratings and revenue for each network and digital property in her portfolio consistently outperformed the marketplace and garnered countless awards.
Under her leadership, Bravo Media grew from a niche cable network into a Nielsen Top 10, globally recognized brand and revenue powerhouse where she developed and launched among the most valuable—and talked about—IP in the content landscape, including Project Runway, Top Chef, Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, The Real Housewives, Million Dollar
Listing, Below Deck, Southern Charm and many others.
Zalaznick launched her career in independent film. She produced groundbreaking feature films that defined the era including the Cannes and Sundance Festival award-winning film Kids and Academy Award Nominee Todd Haynes’ Poison and Safe. She also served as Executive Producer of the beloved “Zoolander,” based on a character from the VH1 Fashion Awards,
which she created during her tenure at VH1.
Zalaznick has received many honors for her achievements. She is the winner of numerous Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. She was named to The Time 100: The World’s Most Influential People” list. She was the subject of a New York Times Magazine cover story.
Original interviews have been conducted and archived by the Television Academy Foundation and The Smithsonian. And she delivered a TED talk entitled “The Conscience of Television” which has been viewed and shared close to a million times.
Zalaznick currently chairs the board of National CineMedia. She also serves as a director at The RTL Group, parent company of Fremantle, where she sits on the Nominating and Compensation Committee. Zalaznick is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Speaking on: Welcome to 2030: Exploring the (Near) Future of Media