Vin Di Bona Returns as Emcee of the State of the Entertainment Industry Conference
November 16, 2016
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Producer Vin Di Bona will once again return in his role as Emcee the fifth State of the Entertainment Industry Conference presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Variety. The conference is the pre-eminent local forum that focuses on the importance of the Entertainment Industry to California and steps that need to be taken to keep it healthy.
The theme selected for the 2016 conference is “Hollywood Without Borders”. It will be held at Loews Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N. Highland Ave., on Friday, November 30. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the sessions running from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The conference includes breakfast and lunch. Co-chairs are Sharon Keyser, Senior VP, Real Estate, Government & Community Relations for Paramount Pictures and Doug Troy, COO and CFO for Trailer Park.
A four-time Emmy award-winning producer and eight-time Emmy nominee, as well as recipient of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for his work in documentary programming, Vin Di Bona is CEO of Vin Di Bona Productions and Chairman of FishBowl Worldwide Media.
A pioneer in comedic reality television, Di Bona shook the foundations of the television industry when he introduced America’s Funniest Home Videos in 1989. Not only credited with bringing the reality genre to network broadcasting, twenty-five years later it seems that Di Bona also set the stage for today’s universal YouTube culture by creating an appetite and platform for user-generated content.
In 2007, America’s Funniest Home Videos (AFV) became the longest-running primetime entertainment show on the ABC network. In 2012, AFV celebrated a milestone 500th episode, an accomplishment previously achieved by only three other primetime entertainment shows: Lassie, Gunsmoke and The Simpsons. In October 2016, AFV entered its 27th season on the air.
His other reality-based specials and series include America’s Funniest People, I Survived A Disaster, The Big Moment, Chicken Soup For The Soul, Show Me The Funny, The Extraordinary World of Animals, Meet the Marks, The Dating Experiment and Animal Crack-Ups, the first show produced under his own banner in 1986. Animal Crack-Ups, like AFV, was based on a show from the Tokyo Broadcasting Company, making Di Bona the first television producer to import a Japanese format to the U.S.
Beyond reality television, Di Bona’s diverse experience in producing and directing includes television movies, broadcast and cable series, network specials, music award shows and variety programming. Among those are Entertainment Tonight, Papal Spacebridge’87, MacGyver, Trump Unauthorized and the Showtime series, Sherman Oaks. He has also produced three highly acclaimed movies-of-the week, For the Love of Nancy, Touched By Evil and Voices From Within, as well as documentaries, including Down at the Dunbar, for which he won the Peabody.
In addition to executive producing and directing AFV, Di Bona is currently executive producer on several television series, including the Animal Planet reality series, Insane Pools: Off the Deep End.
Di Bona received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, and currently serves as Chair of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Committee. Di Bona was honored with the Chamber’s annual Commitment to California Award which was presented to him by Television Host Tom Bergeron at the third State of the Entertainment Industry Conference in 2014.
After a four-year stint as Chairman for the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors, Di Bona was honored with the organization’s Chair’s Award in 2008. To commemorate the show’s contribution to American culture, America’s Funniest Home Videos became part of history in 2009 when The Smithsonian Institution selected the show for inclusion into their permanent entertainment collections. Di Bona was honored again in 2011 when he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.
Di Bona is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Emerson College which bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. He holds the position of Chairman, Paulist Productions Board of Directors, is a member of the Board of Trustees for the St. James Inn and served as Chairman for the Caucus for Television Producers, Writer & Directors for four years. In addition to being a board member for the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and the Newport Music Festival, Di Bona is currently active in Teach for America, the Newport Historical Society and the Preservation Society of Newport in Rhode Island. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Smithsonian Institution.
A host of businesses have lined up to support and sponsor the conference. In addition to presenting sponsor Variety, the Platinum Luncheon Sponsor will be the Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building. Breakfast sponsors include: Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, Loews Hollywood Hotel, Marvel, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Trailer Park and Vin Di Bona Productions / FishBowl Worldwide Media.
Gold level sponsors include: California I.A.T.S.E Council, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, FilmL.A., Inc., First Entertainment Credit Union, Harman Press, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hudson Pacific Properties, Meruelo Media, and Skydance Media.
Silver level sponsors include: APM Music, AT&T, Capitol Music Group, Comcast | NBCUniversal, Emerson College Los Angeles, Gensler, Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City, Hollywood American Legion Post #43, Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings, Paramount Contractors & Developers, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, SAG-AFTRA, W Hollywood Hotel & Residences, and The Walt Disney Company.
Additional supporters include Mole Richardson and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.
Reservations can be made online at hollywoodchamber.net/conference. The early bird, special rate is $99 for chamber members who register prior to November 28th. The price rises to $125 for those who register at the door. Tables of 10 can be reserved for $1,000.
Valet parking at Loews Hotel is $20. Self-parking at H&H is $15.
Register online at www.hollywoodchamber.net/conference.
#HollywoodChamberConference
About the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
For more than 95 years, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has provided leadership, business development resources, networking, and government affairs programs and services to keep the Hollywood business and residential communities safe, relevant and economically vital. Fariba Kalantari, DDS, is the Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors 2016-17, and Leron Gubler is the President/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. For more information please visit www.hollywoodchamber.net.
The theme selected for the 2016 conference is “Hollywood Without Borders”. It will be held at Loews Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N. Highland Ave., on Friday, November 30. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the sessions running from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The conference includes breakfast and lunch. Co-chairs are Sharon Keyser, Senior VP, Real Estate, Government & Community Relations for Paramount Pictures and Doug Troy, COO and CFO for Trailer Park.
A four-time Emmy award-winning producer and eight-time Emmy nominee, as well as recipient of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for his work in documentary programming, Vin Di Bona is CEO of Vin Di Bona Productions and Chairman of FishBowl Worldwide Media.
A pioneer in comedic reality television, Di Bona shook the foundations of the television industry when he introduced America’s Funniest Home Videos in 1989. Not only credited with bringing the reality genre to network broadcasting, twenty-five years later it seems that Di Bona also set the stage for today’s universal YouTube culture by creating an appetite and platform for user-generated content.
In 2007, America’s Funniest Home Videos (AFV) became the longest-running primetime entertainment show on the ABC network. In 2012, AFV celebrated a milestone 500th episode, an accomplishment previously achieved by only three other primetime entertainment shows: Lassie, Gunsmoke and The Simpsons. In October 2016, AFV entered its 27th season on the air.
His other reality-based specials and series include America’s Funniest People, I Survived A Disaster, The Big Moment, Chicken Soup For The Soul, Show Me The Funny, The Extraordinary World of Animals, Meet the Marks, The Dating Experiment and Animal Crack-Ups, the first show produced under his own banner in 1986. Animal Crack-Ups, like AFV, was based on a show from the Tokyo Broadcasting Company, making Di Bona the first television producer to import a Japanese format to the U.S.
Beyond reality television, Di Bona’s diverse experience in producing and directing includes television movies, broadcast and cable series, network specials, music award shows and variety programming. Among those are Entertainment Tonight, Papal Spacebridge’87, MacGyver, Trump Unauthorized and the Showtime series, Sherman Oaks. He has also produced three highly acclaimed movies-of-the week, For the Love of Nancy, Touched By Evil and Voices From Within, as well as documentaries, including Down at the Dunbar, for which he won the Peabody.
In addition to executive producing and directing AFV, Di Bona is currently executive producer on several television series, including the Animal Planet reality series, Insane Pools: Off the Deep End.
Di Bona received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, and currently serves as Chair of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Committee. Di Bona was honored with the Chamber’s annual Commitment to California Award which was presented to him by Television Host Tom Bergeron at the third State of the Entertainment Industry Conference in 2014.
After a four-year stint as Chairman for the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors, Di Bona was honored with the organization’s Chair’s Award in 2008. To commemorate the show’s contribution to American culture, America’s Funniest Home Videos became part of history in 2009 when The Smithsonian Institution selected the show for inclusion into their permanent entertainment collections. Di Bona was honored again in 2011 when he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.
Di Bona is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Emerson College which bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. He holds the position of Chairman, Paulist Productions Board of Directors, is a member of the Board of Trustees for the St. James Inn and served as Chairman for the Caucus for Television Producers, Writer & Directors for four years. In addition to being a board member for the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and the Newport Music Festival, Di Bona is currently active in Teach for America, the Newport Historical Society and the Preservation Society of Newport in Rhode Island. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Smithsonian Institution.
A host of businesses have lined up to support and sponsor the conference. In addition to presenting sponsor Variety, the Platinum Luncheon Sponsor will be the Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building. Breakfast sponsors include: Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, Loews Hollywood Hotel, Marvel, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Trailer Park and Vin Di Bona Productions / FishBowl Worldwide Media.
Gold level sponsors include: California I.A.T.S.E Council, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, FilmL.A., Inc., First Entertainment Credit Union, Harman Press, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hudson Pacific Properties, Meruelo Media, and Skydance Media.
Silver level sponsors include: APM Music, AT&T, Capitol Music Group, Comcast | NBCUniversal, Emerson College Los Angeles, Gensler, Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City, Hollywood American Legion Post #43, Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings, Paramount Contractors & Developers, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, SAG-AFTRA, W Hollywood Hotel & Residences, and The Walt Disney Company.
Additional supporters include Mole Richardson and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.
Reservations can be made online at hollywoodchamber.net/conference. The early bird, special rate is $99 for chamber members who register prior to November 28th. The price rises to $125 for those who register at the door. Tables of 10 can be reserved for $1,000.
Valet parking at Loews Hotel is $20. Self-parking at H&H is $15.
Register online at www.hollywoodchamber.net/conference.
#HollywoodChamberConference
About the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
For more than 95 years, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has provided leadership, business development resources, networking, and government affairs programs and services to keep the Hollywood business and residential communities safe, relevant and economically vital. Fariba Kalantari, DDS, is the Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors 2016-17, and Leron Gubler is the President/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. For more information please visit www.hollywoodchamber.net.
Contact:
Hollywood Chamber
info@hollywoodchamber.net, (323) 469-8311
