SUNDAY, APRIL 21
PITCH FEEDBACK GUESTS
Michael Alden
Michael Alden Productions
A native of Southern California, Michael Alden began his career on stage and motion pictures at an early age. As a child actor, he appeared in numerous family shows during the late fifties and early sixties. In 1977 Mr. Alden stepped behind the scenes working in various aspects of production.
In 1984 Mr. Alden joined Cannon Films in their post-production department. Quickly moving up the ranks, in 1986 he was made supervisor of the department, overseeing the creative and technical post-production of over one hundred feature films.
Mr. Alden assumed Vice Presidency at Pathe Communications in 1989, where he headed their public post production facility, Pathe Services. He served as a corporate officer of the newly formed company taking them into profit in their first year. During his term, Mr. Alden was instrumental in locating, analyzing and supervising the rejuvenation of over 1,500 feature film elements that had been stored worldwide which comprised the company’s film library. These feature elements served as the equity foundation for Pathe’s purchase of MGM/UA where Mr. Alden went on to serve as their vice president of post-production.
As a producer, Mr. Alden has been represented in the West End with Come From Away, (Olivier Award for Best Musical), David Seidler’s original play The King’s Speech and Bat Boy The Musical. On Broadway: Come From Away (2017 Tony Nomination & Olivier Winner for Best Musical), Disgraced (Pulitzer Prize – Drama), Grey Gardens, and Bridge & Tunnel (Special Tony Award).
His off Broadway and regional works include; The King’s Speech, Not That Jewish, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Admit One, the Brochu-Schalchlin musical The Last Session, Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell, the Los Angeles productions of Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly, and Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates.
Alden’s film works include: From The Shadows, Studio One Forever, Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol With A Twist, Death Metal, My Beautiful Stutter, Just Cause with Sean Connery, the fashion forward documentary UnZipped for Miramax, Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, the multi-award winning feature comedy Kissing Jessica Stein and Ralph Ziman’s foreign feature film The Zookeeper starring Sam Neill.
His current 2023/24 film production works include the supernatural thriller, 5 Must Die; When Reagan Killed Roosevelt, a film chronicling the community of Roosevelt Long Island from their heydey in the 1950’s to the slow dismantling of a community that gave birth to Public Enemy, Howard Stern, Eddie Murphy, LL Cool Jay and more; and The Griots of Hip Hop!, the never before told story of the rise of MTV Raps and their place in the rap revolution.
Brian Graden
CEO, Brian Graden Media
Brian served for 13 years as the President of Entertainment, MTV Networks Music Channels and President of Logo until December 2010. As President of Entertainment, Mr. Graden lead and provided programming over- sight to all the MTVN music networks including MTV, VH1, MTV2 and CMT. While there, he developed such cultural phenomenon as The Osbourne’s, P Diddy’s Making The Band, Wild and Out, Run’s House, Pimp My Ride, Newlyweds, Punk’d, and Jackass, to name a few. He also developed and green-lit MTV’s musical flagship, Total Request Live, which helped propel countless artists to stardom. Additionally, he oversaw flagship events like the Video Music Awards. He also green-lit MTV’s biggest hits of recent years, Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant. MTV remained the #1 destination for viewers ages 12-24 throughout Brian’s entire tenure. He similarly engineered a ratings turnaround at Vh1 with programs like I LOVE THE 80’s and Best Week Ever.
His most recent venture is the production company Brian Graden Media. In 2013, Brian Graden Media received significant attention and their first Emmy win for their innovative series HitRECord, a new take on the variety show produced with and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The show is made collaboratively by a community of hundreds of thousands of artists from all over the world via the web, and it features short films, live performances, cartoons and much more. In nine years, BGM has delivered 20 seasons of television, including: two seasons of Instant Influencer for YouTube Originals, two seasons of Create Together for YouTube Originals, Band Together with Logic for YouTube Originals, four seasons of Escape the Night for YouTube Originals, Temmoraland for Lifetime, The Disappearance of Natalie Holloway for Oxygen, The Todrick Show for MTV, Walk of Shame Shuttle for VH1, Finding Prince Charming for LOGO, Animal Crackers for CW, Gnarkatz for Rated Red/Go-90, Men Of The Strip for E!, Lance loves Michael for E!, Buying the Business for CNBC and Secret Genius for Spotify. BGM has also developed and delivered pilots for over 30 networks including Netflix, NBC, Oxygen, Peacock, Lifetime, History, BET, A&E, Disney Channel, Bravo, and POP TV and many others. In 2020, Brian Graden Media snagged its second Emmy win for Create Together with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
In 1996, Brian Graden’s first production company was also a success. He commissioned a video Christmas card from two upstart talents Trey Parker and Matt Stone called “The Spirit of Christmas.” The five-minute short quickly became the underground secret vice of Hollywood, and spawned a little series called South Park, which Graden developed and Executive Produced with Parker and Stone. South Park has received Emmy’s in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 for outstanding animated program; a 2007 AFI Award for Program of the Year; 2006 Peabody Award to name just a few. Today, now streaming on HBO Max and celebrating its 25th year, South Park is also one of the biggest financial successes in TV history.
Starting in 1989, Mr. Graden spent his early years in television working at Fox, a new network at the time, rising to SVP of Development and overseeing such venerable franchises as Cops and America’s Most Wanted. He also created the smash syndicated relationship-show hit, STUDS. Mr. Graden has also continued to consult for clients like the NBCUni Cable family and other networks.
Graden’s interest in music dates back to his days performing in his 80’s cover band, Ace Oxygen and The Ozones, during college, which continues to perform today.
Mr. Graden holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Other awards and honors include an EQCA (Equality California) Award for Commitment to Advancing LGBT Equality, GLAAD Media Vito Russo Award for Excellence in Media, and multiple years on the board of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society. He is also a frequent speaker, most recently keynoting The 4th Cellcom Media Conference in Tel Aviv. He’s also been a keynote speaker at the 2008 Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus Annual Commencement, the Reaching Out MBA conference, and as an ambassador for MTV’s Fight For Your Rights: Take a Stand Against violence campaign, which he spearheaded while at the network.
Rebecca Lowrey
CEO, MusicalWriters.Com
Rebecca Lowrey, Owner and CEO of MusicalWriters.com, is passionate about creating new works and has spent the past 17 years as a premier music director, vocal coach, and accompanist in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, New York City and everywhere in between. The impressive ability to play anything put in front of her has gained her entry to elite casting rooms, production meetings, rehearsals, and beyond, resulting in a unique skillset that spans more than just music — simply put, she knows what works for a musical. A director and producer as well, Rebecca is adept at getting new shows up on their feet in record time, all while efficiently coordinating the long list of to-dos required to prepare a show for an audience
Rebecca is a champion of diverse casting and production teams (#WomenDirect) and has the pull and connections to assemble unforgettable, live, onstage bands. In 2017, Rebecca began producing a series of intimate productions known as the Living Room Concerts. Starting with simple piano-only performances in her living room with friends, the series expanded to poolside parties and festive holiday gatherings. Her recent credits include the critically acclaimed production of the rock musical Lizzie at Imprint Theatreworks in Dallas, a lauded run of Gutenberg! The Musical! at Amphibian Stage in Fort Worth, and a Rocky Horror Show and 9 to 5 that celebrated the uniqueness of its performers.
You may recognize Rebecca from TikTok, where her popular #DuetWithMe videos encourage thousands of performers to #KeepSinging. Rebecca earned her bachelor of arts degree in music (with a minor in business administration) from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.