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Tony Disanto’s Allyance Media Group is expanding its production team, promoting Tommy Coriale to Evp Production and Head of its Diga Studios, and hiring two key executives: Stacey Altman as Svp, Unscripted, and Andrew Portnoy as Svp, Production. The moves comes on the heels of Nick Rigg and Aj Morewitz being named Heads of Unscripted and Scripted Development, respectively, and a growing volume of development and sales including Sam Raimi’s 50 States of Terror for Quibi.

Formerly General Manager of Diga Studios, Coriale will oversee production across all of Amg as well as run the day-to-day business and operations of Diga Studios. Coriale joined Diga in September 2014, overseeing operations and development. Prior to Diga, Coriale served as Executive in Charge at Eastern where he managed all aspects of production, most notably the Love & Hip Hop franchise on VH1.

As Svp of unscripted development at Diga, Altman will be...

Join our newsletter to get more stories like this Monsters and Critics was embedded with the production team of National Geographic Channel as they filmed tonight’s episode of Explorer. The action comes from the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain, a region that also contains the Pyrenees Mountains. Catalonia (Catalunya) is made up of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Barcelona was where we landed upon arrival but then we were transported to Vilafranca de Penedès where the largest Sant. Felix festival happens annually in late August, called Festa Major. In our exclusive clip, Keoghan took Monsters and Critics to […]

The post Explorer examines Human tower-building: Phil Keoghan joins the Castells of Catalonia appeared first on Monsters and Critics.

Join our newsletter to get more stories like this Tonight it is time to sing “Take me to the river,” but don’t drop me in it as Phil Keoghan’s segment on Explorer heads to Peru’s Boiling River, where the temperatures are 200 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to cook you alive! The total river system is about 5.5 miles, but it’s the 3.8 miles on the lower part of the river that are recorded as hot. Technically, the river starts off as a cold stream, heats up, then cools back down slightly at night, with a recorded range that goes from 27 […]

The post Phil Keoghan takes us to The Boiling River of Peru on Explorer in this exclusive preview appeared first on Monsters and Critics.

In 2010, National Geographic celebrated the 25th anniversary of Explorer, the longest-running documentary series in cable television history. Monsters and Critics was invited back in April of 2010 to go to DC for the festive event with National Geographic Channel’s executive VP of content Steve Burns and Michael Rosenfeld, president of National Geographic Television, as the network prepared a giant Globe cake with cake cutting honors. Lisa Ling. who narrated the documentary of the history of the series, was also there. Cut to 2018, as Monsters and Critics joined Explorer in Villafranca, Spain where we met executive producer Gretchen Eisele and […]

The post Exclusive: Nat Geo Explorer’s Ep Gretchen Eisele on why there’s ‘nothing like it on TV’ appeared first on Monsters and Critics.

Emmy award-winning Producer, guest speaker, and host of the Amazing Race, Phil Keoghan is the shiny new “get” for National Geographic Explorer. It’s easy to see why. When you meet Keoghan, his vitality immediately fills the space. These qualities were not lost on the National Geographic Channel, who nabbed the Amazing Race host as one of their star journalists to put in the field for the long-running series. Explorer had ended in 2011 and then was restarted again under the production guidance of Nat Geo’s Tim Pastore and was hosted by British journalist Richard Bacon, whom Keoghan is now replacing. […]

The post Exclusive: Nat Geo Explorer’s host Phil Keoghan on a life well traveled and new season appeared first on Monsters and Critics.

After a lengthy search, former National Geographic Channels’ President of Original Programming and Production Tim Pastore has been named CEO of All3Media America. Reporting to Jane Turton, All3Media CEO, Pastore will start October 1.

All3Media America has been without CEO since January when Greg Lipstone stepped down as CEO after two and a half years, joined by COO Dan Donahue who exited after an year on the job.

Pastore, an Emmy-winning producer, exited Nat Geo in May after a four-year stint as President, Original Programming and Production for National Geographic Channels where he oversaw development, programming, and production across the Us and UK.

“Tim’s reputation as a business leader and his track record as the creator and producer of high quality and popular TV is incredibly impressive,” Turton said. “I’m really excited at the prospect of working with such a talented executive and believe that Tim is...

National Geographic Channels alum Tim Pastore has been named CEO of All3Media America.

Pastore’s appointment, effective Oct. 1, fills the void left since the departure of Greg Lipstone from the top job at All3 America in late January after two years in the role.

All3Media America is the U.S. arm of the U.K.-based production group that is home to more than two dozen banners, most of them focused on unscripted programming. All3Media is jointly owned by Discovery Inc. and Liberty Global.

“Tim’s reputation as a business leader and his track record as the creator and producer of high quality and popular TV is incredibly impressive,” said Jane Turton, CEO of All3Media. “I’m really excited at the prospect of working with such a talented executive.”

Based in Los Angeles, All3Media America is producer of CBS’ “Undercover Boss,” CNN’s “United Shades of America,...

All3Media America has found its new CEO.

Former National Geographic Channels programming president Tim Pastore has been tapped to replace Greg Lipstone at the unscripted production company. Pastore, who departed Nat Geo in May, will start his new post Oct. 1 and report to All3Media CEO Jane Turton.

During his four years at Nat Geo, Pastore oversaw National Geographic Studios, the in-house division behind original series and documentaries, including Emmy-winning Explorer, Gender Revolution With Katie Couric and Star Talk With Neil deGrasse Tyson. He helped launch Nat Geo's feature documentary unit with LA92, Hell on Earth: The Fall of ...

Original Productions has hired veteran executive Jeff Hasler as president of the prolific unscripted TV production company owned by FremantleMedia. Hasler will oversee all development, production, business and strategic aspects of the company along with Ernie Avila, COO and Evp, Business Affairs and Sarah Whalen, Evp Development and Programming. Avila and Whalen, who have been running Original Prods. in the past couple of years, will now report into Hasler.

Hasler joins Original Productions from National Geographic Studios where he served as Evp of production and development, overseeing original non-scripted television, feature documentary and other projects including the acclaimed documentary Jane, directed by Brett Morgen, as well as the Emmy-nominated series StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Explorer, series Chain of Command, documentary Gender Revolution with Katie Couric, and the recently Sports Emmy-nominated Breaking 2.

Previously, Hasler also spent nearly five years as Svp of Development and Production for Discovery Channel, managing all programming for the broadcaster,...

Chris Longo Alec Bojalad Jul 9, 2019

A teenage live action Dora the Explorer is heading to the big screen in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

The popular Nickelodeon animated series Dora The Explorer is headed to the movies in a new-live action venture with Dora and the Lost City of Gold. The idea of the film is not to focus on Dora as the seven-year-old we see in the cartoons, but instead as a teenager, as she moves to the big city to live with her cousin Diego.

Nickelodeon's official synopsis for the movie reads:

Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora (Isabela Moner) for her most dangerous adventure ever – High School. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots, Diego (Jeffrey Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Eugenio Derbez), and a rag tag group of teens on a live-action...