Steven Jon Whritner:
CLASS OF 1978
East Lyme High SchoolClass of 1978
East lyme, CT
New York University - Tisch School of the ArtsClass of 1982
New york, NY
Rhode Island School of DesignClass of 1982
Providence, RI
Steven Jon's Story
Workplace
During his 30 years in the entertainment industry, award-winning television and film producer Steven Jon Whritner has served in senior executive level positions at several of the leading broadcast and cable networks. Whritner has also created, written and produced a large number of successful long and short form television programs and national commercials netting many of the industry's top honors.
Presently, Whritner is President of Plymouth Rock Entertainment, Inc., an independent multi-media production company that develops, produces and consults on series television and theatrical motion pictures. Current Plymouth Rock projects include the new nationally syndicated daytime court show "Jury Duty" starring Bruce Cutler, for which Whritner is serving as an executive producer.
Prior to forming Plymouth Rock in 2006, Whritner served as Executive Vice President, Production and Development for Emmy Award®-winning Big Chief Entertainment, Inc., where he oversaw all original content development and production. Programs under Whritner's direct supervision included a provocative series of documentary films that introduced audiences to extremes of life and lifestyle. "Mole People: Life in the World Below" had its world premiere on Discovery Channel and won the 2002 Telly Award® for Outstanding Documentary Film, in addition to a Classic Telly Award®. "Biker Girls: Born to be Wild" premiered on TLC in 2002. "The New Sideshow" debuted on TLC and won the 2003 Telly Award® for Outstanding Documentary.
In 2001, Whritner co-created and executive produced the reality series pilot ¿Repo Men: Stealing for a Living¿ for USA Network. Hosted by Vincent Pastore (¿The Sopranos¿), ¿Repo Men¿ was picked up as a series by TLC, completing three hit seasons and winning a pair of Telly¿s® for Outstanding Entertainment Program. Then, in 2004 Whritner created his first daily strip for TV One ¿ the popular dating game show ¿Get the HookUp¿ hosted by nationally syndicated radio personality Russ Parr. ¿HookUp¿ enjoyed three consecutive hit seasons on the network.
In addition to producing long form television content, Big Chief was also instrumental in the launching and branding of a variety of cable networks including HGTV, Fine Living, DiY, Travel Channel, Metro Channel and TV One. As Big Chief¿s senior executive producer, Whritner oversaw high-end marketing campaigns for major broadcast and cable ne...Expand for more
twork clients including ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO, MTV Networks, Showtime Networks, Discovery Communications, History Channel, Court TV, HGTV and Rainbow Media, plus television studios such as King World, Paramount Television, Buena Vista Television, Fox Television, Warner Brothers Television and Proctor & Gamble Productions. Most recently, Whritner was the executive producer for ABC¿s new on-air campaign for ¿Good Morning America.¿
Prior to Big Chief, Whritner was one of television's leading marketing and promotion executives. He served as Vice President of Creative Services and On-Air Promotion at Food Network where he spearheaded the network's complete corporate re-design and on-air look, while packaging and promoting hit shows such as "Emeril Live." Before Food, he was instrumental in the launch of United Paramount Network (UPN), serving as Creative Director and the executive in charge of on-air promotion for UPN's flagship affiliate, UPN 9 in New York. Prior to his tenure at UPN, Whritner served as Senior Producer at A&E Networks.
Whritner is also credited for creating and producing the syndicated interstitial series "Hollywood After Dark," in addition to producing "Today in Music History," which is widely considered to be the most successful syndicated interstitial series in TV history.
Whritner attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) from 1978-1980 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Film and Television from New York University in 1982. Immediately following NYU, Whritner was tapped for the legendary CBS Executive Programming Internship at CBS, Inc., after which he landed his first paid job in the entertainment industry helping to make the Statue of Liberty disappear for the primetime CBS special "The Magic of David Copperfield." Since then and throughout his career Whritner's work has been recognized with many of the industry's top awards including nine Telly Awards, eight PROMAX Gold Medallion and Silver Awards, a New York Festivals World Medal, multiple honors from CTAM, BDA, PMAA, Mobius, International Monitor Awards, plus a New York Emmy Award and the prestigious World Class Award, PROMAX's highest honor.
Whritner lives in Northern Bergen County, New Jersey with his wife, Karen, an Emmy-winning sports producer, and his college-bound son, Jake.
For more information about Steven Jon Whritner, plus a filmography, go to IMDb.com; or, if you're a subscriber, visit IMDbpro.com.
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