Award-Winning Television Producer | Media expert | Executive TV coach | Writer

Summary

Antoinette Machiaverna
Innovative Ideas That Inspire. Tell Your Story. Reach Your Audience.
7- Time Emmy Award-winning producer in live and taped TV sports, news, entertainment and daytime programming. Creative and prolific, I can generate ideas and conceptualize shows or series from start to finish with an intuitive ability to discern what programming is right for your desired audience demographics. I offer expertise in effective communications and media training and can develop on-air ready talent or experts for Morning TV or Prime Time. I have worked with some of the most legendary broadcasters and interviewers in television. My management experience is not only in television but also in non-profit leadership as Founder and President of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, a 501C3 nonprofit organization that has distributed nearly $365 million in toys, books and clothing since it was created and was honored with the President's Volunteer Service Award and the Boys & Girls Clubs Of America's Foundation Philanthropy Award.
SPECIALTIES:
?Conceptualizing Ideas for Effective Broadcast Media Strategies that Optimize Brand Awareness
?Innovative Storytelling for Broadcast, Print and Digital Platforms
?Producing, Writing, Directing Stories Integrating With Traditional And Social Media That Can Cut Through The Clutter, Inform, Raise A Client's Profile or Tug At The Heart
?Collaborating with Corporate Communications, PR, Marketing And Advertising Pros On Implementing Plans For Clients Across All Media Platforms With A Consistency of Voice
?Proven Track Record of Executive, Author and Athlete TV Coaching
?Creates Collaborative Working Environment with High Profile Media Personalities
?Motivational, Hands-On Show Runner for Taped and Live Programming
?Development of Organization-Wide Media Content Standards and Practices
?Develop Credibility and Solidify Long-Term Relationships With Media Decision Makers
?Leverage Research and Development Metrics To Tap Into Emerging Trends

Career Timeline

  1. -
    Senior Producer , Leftfield Pictures

    National Geographic's Brain Surgery Live, a real time documentary featuring the first ever live televised brain surgery, hosted by Bryant Gumbel and broadcast live to 171 countries in 45 languages worldwide.

  2. -
    Producer, NBC Sports, NBC

    -Produced Live and Tape Sports Coverage on all major sports and anthology sports, both domestic and international events
    -Producer Major League Baseball Game of the Week Pregame Show
    -Producer, NFL 1980-1988 Pregame Show
    -Feature Producer 1980-1988 World Series on NBC Pregame Shows
    -Feature Producer, Super Bowl Pregame segments on NBC
    -Halftime Producer, Feature Producer, Replay Producer 1983-1988 Orange Bowls
    -Producer, 1983, 1987 World Championships of Track & Field
    -1987, Producer East German National Games, only Western TV crew ever allowed
    -1983 interview with Former President Jimmy Carter on 1980 Olympic Boycott, his first out of office interview, with Edwin Newman
    -Producer, 1982-1987 Breeders' Cup
    -Producer 1980 Friendship Games in China, first international games hosted there
    -3 Emmys for Best Edited Features for pregame shows

  3. -
    Curator, Editorial Director, Muppet Pipes Studio 6, NBC Universal

    Special NBC Universal Studio Operations Project: Curated, negotiated rights, wrote all editorial aspects of Muppet Pipes and History of Studio 6B for NBC Studio Tours. The historic location was home to TV and radio shows including The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, The Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle, Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On Feb. 17, 2014, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon premiered, returning the iconic broadcast to Studio 6B and New York City.

  4. -
    Founder/President, Today Show Charitable Foundation

    -Founded and created the NBC Today Show Charitable Foundation, an independently operated and funded 501C3 non-profit dedicated to putting a smile on the faces of the nation's neediest children through the Today Toy Drive
    -Distributed $425 million in-kind and cash donations to more than 200 children's charities since 1994
    -Honored by Boys & Girls Clubs of America with 2010 Foundation Philanthropy Award
    -Provide non-profit leadeship and coordinate relationship between Foundation and NBC Universal
    -Manage independent staff
    -Work with partner companies to elicit donations, communicate the social responsibility message, solicit viewer donations
    -Promote NBC Universal and Today's commitment to social responsibility in the press and through social media
    -Contribute editorial to annual Social Responsibility report for NBC Universal and Comcast
    -Produce on-air segments for Today throughout the month-long toy drive

  5. -
    President, Antoinette Machiaverna Media LLC

    Provides media expertise in creating narratively and visually compelling stories that integrate both traditional and social media across multiple channels and audiences into successful business strategies and marketing campaigns. Creates and identifies quality media content that cuts through the clutter to communicate the story of a brand, company, cause, executive, celebrity or athlete with a passionate and consistent voice. Superior writing skills for broadcast, print, corporate and digital media. Innovative ideas that can inspire.  Clients Include:

    • Today Show
    • Say Yes To Education
    • The Ford Foundation
    • National Geographic Channel
    • Leftfield Pictures
    • JMC Productions
    • Eve Pearl Cosmetics
    • The Hodges Partnership
    • National Executive Service Corps

     

     

  6. -
    Producer Today Show, NBC News

    -Produce live and edited segments for Today Show on all topics: Politics, Sports, Entertainment, Parenting, Breaking News, experienced story teller on any topic
    -Extensive control room experience for both live and live-to-tape programming
    -Senior Producer Responsible for Programming and Line Producing Special Taped and Live Shows
    -Producer, 2012, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1996, 1992 Summer and Winter Olympics
    -Producer, Tom Cruise/Matt Lauer headline making interview
    -Produced LIVE coverage of events of September 11th lining up guests and phoners as events unfolded
    -Produced interviews with 5 U.S. Presidents
    -Created franchises aimed at Today's core audience including Today's Family, Forever Young, Today's Home, Do-It-Yourself Today, Today Builds A House among other special series
    -Produce interviews with major actors, directors, authors, artists, celebrities and newsmakers
    -Media-trained, developed many non-TV experts to become regular Today Contributors
    -Co-Writer and Producer, Muppets Take Over Today
    -Team Member and Producer, Education Nation coverage
    -Producer, Inside The College Admissions Process
    -4 Daytime Emmys, Best Daytime Show as Producer

Proudest Accomplishment

BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO MY "LINKS" TO SEE EXAMPLES OF OF MY TV WORK AND BLOGS

Education Highlights

  • Master of Science (MS), Medill School Of Journalism
    Northwestern University
  • BA Cum Laude, Journalism, Minors in English, Film
    New York University

Questions & Answers

Announcer, The Meredith Vieira Show and Former CCO Hillshire Brands Jon Harris:
With more than three decades of news and sports experience, Antoinette is a consummate storyteller, who understands how to get your message across, create a media strategy and execute it flawlessly. No matter what brand or opportunity, Anotinette will find your voice and tell your story in an effective and impactful way, using both traditional and digital media.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
An interview with Antoinette
HONORED AS "THE GOLD STANDARD" OF TV TALK SHOW PRODUCERS
Here's what others are saying about working with Antoinette...
Jacques Steinberg, former NY Times Journalist & Author of The NY Times Best-Seller, "The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College":
As a producer, Antoinette is a consummate story teller who always seems to know just the right quote, image or vignette that will make a complex issue understandable, relatable and, more often than not, heartfelt. And in the anxious moments just before that camera light goes on, Antoinette has a gift for ensuring that her interview subjects feel prepared, confident and, as a result, at ease. I think of her as 'The Guest Whisperer.'
Former Today Anchor and anchor of the award-winning HBO Real Sports Bryant Gumbel:
You don't have to put spurs on her to get her enthusiastic. If you need a piece done in 24 hours, she can do it.
Baseball Hall of Famer and Broadcaster Joe Garagiola:
She is like a utility player. She can do anything and knows how to bring home the big stories.
Award-Winning Broadcaster and Author Len Berman:
I have worked with Antoinette over the course of 30 years in both network news and sports. Her producing/feature work is top-notch. She not only knows what makes news but how to turn that news into Emmy-award winning television.
Sportscaster Hall of Fame Broadcaster Bob Costas:
Antoinette has truly had an impressive career to this point, and I am glad that I was at least a small part of it.
What was the best Olympics?
Another hard one. But Sydney 2000 is it. First of all, I spent 7 weeks in Sydney and the networks don't spend that kind of money anymore. It was before 9/11 and even though Olympics had anti-terrorism security since 1972 because of Munich, it was still a bit easier to get around and sneak into venues without tickets. The stories I did were great fun, including climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge with Matt Lauer, four crews and a chopper for a tape segment, and then doing it live with David Bloom for a Weekend segment. Then I had to take care of Muhammad Ali for a day. He had to do an interview with Matt, and then we just drove him and his entourage on their errands, including getting his credentials. It was a great road trip. He told us jokes in the van, and spent most of the day taking photos and signing autographs for everyone and anyone who asked. It was so amazing that the driver quit because he thought that nothing could ever top the day he had with Ali. It horrified our production manager, who had considered him the best and most reliable driver, and was handpicked to be Matt's personal driver. In the end, the driver took off a few days and then came back to do his driving gig.
What do you think you'll be best known for at NBC?
The thing about doing TV is once it airs, it vaporizes. Yes, I see clips here and there that I know I shot or created. But there is one thing that will exist in the real world of 30 Rock for a long time. I was sought out by NBC studio execs to create an exhibit featuring the famous Muppet Pipes that Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and two other famed Muppeteers decorated back in 1964 while waiting to go on the Jack Paar program. So one part of that exhibit pays tribute to the whimsical imagination of Jim Henson. But the other is the History of Studio 6B. Jimmy Fallon is a great Muppets fan, so when he took over "Late Night", he wanted the pipes (which were behind a water closet, literally) preserved for the world to enjoy (they were in Max Weinberg's dressing room during the Late Night with Conan O'Brien years, hidden except when the show was on hiatus and employees would visit them). NBC wanted to make it a tour stop as the Pipes are legendary in the world of Henson's admirers. But more than that, so many great radio and tv shows originated from Studio 6B for decades, including the Tonight Show before Johnny Carson moved it to Burbank. I curated, negotiated the rights to all images and video, and wrote all the editorial for it, including a cool plaque next to the Pipes. I am so thrilled that Jimmy has brought the Tonight Show back to its home in Studio 6B and guests on the show will get to see my installation as well as the tourists who visit. I hope everyone learns a little bit of TV history when they walk down that hallway. Another part of my contribution to NBC is the Toy Drive, which I hope continues forever. It does so much good in so many ways large and small and the stories I hear from the non-profits make me cry. I am so proud to help millions of children.
OK, enough. Let's get to the most asked questions. Who was your favorite interview?
Everyone asks me this question and my answer every time is stunned silence. I can't tell you who was my favorite athlete or celebrity, or my favorite anchor or my favorite story because every story or interview I did was my favorite at the time. What I liked doing was all of it. Yes, I loved doing the career-focused interviews with major Hollywood stars and famous athletes. But the smaller stories, the ones with people you never heard of, are the ones I most remember. One of them was an interview with the mother of a kidnapped preteen in Florida. Her abductor saw the mother on Today and drove her to a Walmart, and let her go for help. That is powerful. The big newsmaker was when Matt got Tom Cruise all excited about the history of psychiatry. Probably another was going behind the scenes with Katie Couric on the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred remained a good friend. Another favorite was Bryant Gumbel's interview with Magic Johnson, the first after Magic revealed he was HIV positive.
What services do I offer?
I've been on the other side of the pitch for so long and have made the television careers of many authors, editors, lawyers, and other experts. Instead of being one of a stable of contributors, I can focus my energy on your brand. I am very perceptive about what works on television since I've done just about everything there is to do. I can also give you a reality check because it's still very difficult to get a placement on a major talk show, whether it's number one, two or 32. And I am a 360 communicator.. from concept to final product.. I can come up with the idea, and then shape it, shoot it, write it and edit it to a final piece of communication be it in print or video.
What's the focus of Antoinette Machiaverna Media?
It will be like having a concierge producer at your service. Whether you are a broadcast nework, cable outlet, high level business executive or PR agency, I want to help you sharpen your pitches to television producers.. and create it for you. I have a unique background and know what piques a producer's interest in a story. So how can you be more savvy? The more you can offer, the better shot you have of getting on the air or in the publication. If your executive or guest is TV ready, you get past the first hurdle. How can you reach your client's target demo? With some research and using my knowledge of how the messages are made, you can make an impact. I want take on just a few projects or clients at a time so I can better serve you. And of course, I am available for creating video on any platform from live television, docmentaries, segments and on the web.

Images

  • Hillary Clinton
    Hillary Clinton
  • London 2012
    London 2012
  • Joe Garagiola and Stan Musial
    Joe Garagiola and Stan Musial
  • Al Roker Red Pants Day London 2012
    Al Roker Red Pants Day London 2012
  • Katie Couric, Today 60th Anniversary
    Katie Couric, Today 60th Anniversary
  • Matt Lauer, Sydney Harbor Bridge
    Matt Lauer, Sydney Harbor Bridge
  • Bill Clinton, Billy Joel
    Bill Clinton, Billy Joel
  • Bob Costas in China
    Bob Costas in China
  • Jimmy Carter
    Jimmy Carter
  • Fred Rogers
    Fred Rogers
  • Muhammad Ali
    Muhammad Ali
  • Studio 6B Dedication
    Studio 6B Dedication

video

video Links

Blog

Take Two TV
Goodbye To The Billy Goat

Here's a memory from my years at NBC Sports.

For those of us from NBC Sports on the flight to cover the 1984 World Series, we’ll never forget what happened. For the young ones, Wrigley Field did not have lights until 8-8-1988, so if they won the NLCS, MLB had to realign the schedule so no night games were played in Chicago. A bunch of us were on a flight during the final game, series all tied up, headed to Detroit. It would be the last time the LCS would be a best of five series. The Cubs...

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Location

Greater New York City Area

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