Q&A + Profiles Archives

Gene Pao HBS '97 is currently EVP, Strategy and Digital at Shout! Studios, an independent film and TV distributor, where he oversees overall company strategy, production, marketing, distribution, and digital operations. Over the past several years, Shout has expanded its business to indie film distribution—having released a number new films this year including LINOLEUM (Jim Gaffigan), THE MAGIC FLUTE (F. Murray Abraham), WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? (Shazad Latif, Lily James, Emma Thompson), and hitting theaters on 9/29, THE KILL ROOM (Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Manganiello). Prior to Shout, Gene spent 12 years at Disney, Fox, and NBCU in cable distribution, digital media, and live sports broadcasting/livestreaming. In 2022, Gene was named one of the Top 40 Most Important People In Streaming by Media Play News.

Samuel Baum AB '98 is a playwright, screenwriter, and producer. He is thrilled to be collaborating with Geffen Playhouse on the West Coast premiere of his play, THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak. The play was originally produced at Hartford Stage, where it received four Critics Circle Awards, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation. As a screenwriter, Baum was nominated for a WGA Award for the Emmy-nominated HBO Film THE WIZARD OF LIES, starring Robert DeNiro. Previously, Baum created and executive produced the Fox television drama LIE TO ME, which ran for three seasons. He also co-created and executive produced the ABC series THE EVIDENCE, as well as television pilots for Amazon, Netflix, Showtime, and CBS. He is currently an executive producer of the NBC series THE IRRATIONAL, inspired by the work of behavioral psychologist Dan Ariely. Originally from New York, Baum is a graduate of Harvard College.

Jeff Melvoin AB ‘75 has worked on over a dozen primetime series and was showrunner on eight of them. In all, he’s been involved in over 470 hours of produced television, most recently as an executive producer on season three of KILLING EVE. Other executive producer credits include DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, ARMY WIVES, ALIAS, and PICKET FENCES. He was supervising producer of the CBS series Northern Exposure, for which he won an Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards. Other writer-producer credits include the NBC series HILL STREET BLUES and REMINGTON STEELE. Melvoin is also founder and chair of the Writers Guild of America West’s celebrated Showrunner Training Program, now in its eighteenth year. In February, 2015, Melvoin received the Morgan Cox Award, the WGA’s highest recognition for Guild service. He has taught at USC School of Cinematic Arts, UCLA, Harvard, and the Sundance Institute. Jeff has also lent his experience to the European Showrunner Programme, leading sessions at the inaugural edition in 2022 and will be returning in 2023.

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta AB '01 is an award-winning writer, a writing teacher, and a mother of two. With a PhD on the intersections between fairy tales and autobiography, as well as a seven-year streak of writing weekly poems for strangers, she teaches writing for Oxford Department for Continuing Education and for Harvard Extension School, where she won their highest teaching award. She has authored thirteen books across genres, most recently the novels SHE NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THE OCEAN and ARK, the essay collection AWAKE WITH ASASHORYU, and the personal growth guide EDIT YOUR LIFE, based on her experience living three years in a 275-square foot backyard guest house with her family of four (five, if you count the Labrador). She co-edited the anthology WHAT DOESN'T KILL HER: WOMEN'S STORIES OF RESILIENCE, which Gloria Steinem described as stories that “will help each of us to trust and tell our own.” Elisabeth’s work with myth and memoir, which she began studying at Harvard College (B.A. 2001), has been spotlighted in HARVARD MAGAZINE.