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Missed our Alumni in the Arts Panel? Watch the Webinar Now!
Meghan Podimsky

On Thursday, November 16, the Delbarton Alumni Association hosted another Arts Alumni Panel organized by PJ Calello '90 and Joe Ferraro '95 as a DAA@FAC initiative to connect alumni involved in the arts with our broader school community. Viewers were able to listen in on how our Delbarton alumni went from our 187-acre campus to creating impressive careers in the world of arts and entertainment. The event was held virtually via Zoom, as our panelists illustrated their careers in production and direction.

If you missed the webinar with our alumni panelists, you can click here to watch it now! Here are our panelists who spoke at the event...

Kary Antholis ’80

Kary founded Crime Story Media, LLC in July 2019, after retiring as President of Miniseries and Cinemax Programming at HBO, where he stayed on as executive producer of We Own This City and Black Bird.  In over 25 years as a creative executive at HBO, Kary oversaw Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning projects, including Chornobyl, Angels in America, Olive Kitteridge, John Adams, The Pacific, The Night Of, Generation Kill, The Corner, Elizabeth I, The Gathering Storm, Wit, Show Me a Hero, Mildred Pierce, Elvis Presley: The Searcher and Educating Peter. As head of Cinemax Programming since 2011, Kary led the channel’s branding strategy, commissioning breakthrough series including Strike Back, Banshee, The Knick, Warrior, Jett and Tales from the Tour Bus.  Kary is also a documentary filmmaker best known for the Oscar-winning short One Survivor Remembers, which was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2012.

William Paul Clark ’85

Bill is best known as the First Assistant Director on nearly every Quentin Tarantino picture since Pulp Fiction, even appearing in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, while also facilitating great work by a wide array of directors from Mark Pellington and Gregg Araki to Terry Zwigoff and Barry Levinson.

Chris McCumber '85

Chris was most recently the President of Blumhouse Television responsible for the overall growth of the studio and serving as Executive Producer on multiple series including NBC’s “The Thing About Pam” starring Renee’ Zellweger as well as the upcoming Amazon series “Scarpetta” starring Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, and “The Bondsman” starring Kevin Bacon. Before joining Blumhouse TV, Chris was President of the NBCU Cable Entertainment Networks, overseeing USA Network and SYFY Channel. Under his guidance, USA was the #1 cable network for 14 years – the longest #1 streak in TV history. Beloved series such as “Suits,” “Mr. Robot,” “Queen of the South,” “Psych,” “Chrisley Knows Best” and “The Sinner” were developed and launched under his watch. Chris also negotiated and closed over $2 billion in programming deals including WWE’s flagship live shows “Raw” and “Smackdown”, the “Modern Family” cable window, and the “Harry Potter Wizarding World” movies. Chris began his career at MTV Networks where he was part of the team that created and launched Comedy Central.

Spike Smigelski '08

Spike is a multitalented producer, director, photographer, filmmaker, and storyteller with a passion for creating inspiring and impactful content for global audiences. Spike is the senior producer of the global brand network at Red Bull, and before Red Bull, Spike field-produced on Live Rescue, an A&E reality program profiling fire and rescue units around the country, and The Sportsman Channel.  Other credits include Yeti, Chevy, Cadillac, CW Network, Waves for Water, Luci Lights, Goal Zero, Oakley, Patagonia, Sony, Mountain Dew, X-Games, Playboy, Monster, Neutrogena, GoPro, ESPN, Discovery Channel, Stockli, Spyder, DJI, 360fly, BBC, ABC, NBC, FOX, LA Galaxy, Laird, 72 and Sunny, String King, Oprah Winfrey Network, and WolaC.

Justin Ercole ’09

As an accomplished and esteemed multi-Emmy award-winning producer specializing in unscripted and documentary projects, Justin’s work has taken him from the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas to the underground music scene in Memphis, Tennessee. His experience encompasses various mediums, including television, digital, and live events. His credits include “Shark Week,” “Battle Bots,” and “Celebrity Big Brother” and most recently he served as Field and Post Supervisor for Fitbit where he oversaw the production and delivery of 300+ segments of their premium content in 6 different languages for Google. Justin is based in Los Angeles but his work often takes him throughout the country and world.

We thank Kary, William, Chris, Spike, and Justin for coming back to speak with our community and providing insight on how to build a successful career in production and directing.