Bruce Rosenblum - P 2013
Getty ImagesBruce Rosenblum will return as chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, as he is running unopposed for a second term, it was announced Monday by the academy.
Rosenblum ran two years ago in a contested election and became the first high-level industry executive to hold the position since Rich Frank in 1997. Rosenblum had been recruited by some Academy members to replace the out-going John Shaffner, a production designer, to boost the profile of the group behind the Emmys.
Rosenblum said when elected that his goals included growing the role of the academy beyond the Emmys, expanding the diversity of ATAS membership, bringing in a new generation of industry players from companies like Netflix and Amazon, promoting anti-piracy efforts, encouraging local production and helping develop new employment opportunities within the TV industry.
At the time Rosenblum was president of the Warner Bros. Television, the largest supplier of primetime shows to American television broadcast networks. A graduate of USC with a law degree from UCLA, Rosenblum left Warner Bros. TV in May 2012 after he was passed over for the position of head of the studio.
In June 2013, Rosenblum joined Legendary Entertainment as its president of television and digital. Legendary at the time was in the process of moving its home base away from Warner Bros. to a new home, which turned out to be Universal Studios.
During his tenure Rosenblum has helped bring in more high-level members like Gail Berman and Steve Mosko, overseen the transition to a new chief operating officer (the permanent position of running the academy day to day) and been involved in two years of Emmy shows that have attracted higher ratings than in other recent years.
He has also appointed to the ATAS executive committee well-known industry players Kevin Beggs of Lionsgate, Mark Pedowitz of The CW, John Landgraf of FX and Nancy Josephson, an agent and partner in WME.
He has also worked to grow the membership by bringing in younger members and adding some diversity. In 2011, ATAS had 16,007 members; by 2013 membership was up to 18,151.
Other officers who are re-elected because they are running unopposed are: Vice Chair Kevin Hamburger, Second Vice Chair Frank Scherma, Treasurer Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg and Vice Chair, Los Angeles Area Greg Taylor.
The current secretary, Marcelino Ford, was “termed out,” so he could not run again. There are three candidates running to replace her: Sheila Manning, Governor, Commercials Peer Group; Mark Scott Spatny, Governor, Special Visual Effects Peer Group; and Rob Swartz, Governor, Television Executives Peer Group.
The voting on officers is not done by the entire ATAS membership. The vote is among about 80 members who serve as representatives of the various branches. In this case, all those running unopposed will simply be approved at that meeting.
For candidates who are opposed there is a forum on Nov. 21, scheduled by the ATAS board of governors, where they will have a chance to speak prior to a vote.
