New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Live Nation Productions today announced two key hires for its production and development departments. Seasoned-producer and studio exec Matthew Stein will be the company's new Head of Scripted Development and Production, while Emmy Award-winning producer Ryan Kroft has been named Head of Unscripted Development and Production. Both will report into Heather Parry, Live Nation Productions' President of Production, Film and Television.
Stein joins Live Nation Productions just in time for the release of the company's first scripted features: 'A Star Is Born' and 'After Party.' A longtime studio exec and producer, Stein is coming from a successful producing deal at Sony where he has various projects in development in both film and television, and previously served as VP, Sony
Pictures International Productions. Earlier in his career, Stein spent 12 years working for Dimension films, climbing the ranks from Executive Assistant, to Co-Chairman, and ultimately Executive Vice President of Production, overseeing all phases of production, development and casting for the division. Throughout his career, Stein has served as the executive in charge of production on over 35 films and has been Executive Producer on many others including Scream 4, Halloween, Halloween 2, Apollo 18, Hellride, Superhero Movie and more.
Live TV expert Ryan Kroft joins Live Nation Productions after a 20-year career at Viacom, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Events and Specials for MTV, VH1 and Logo. At Viacom, Kroft oversaw the development and production of numerous live and live-to-tape events including the Video
Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards red carpets, MTV Woodie Awards, VH1 Divas, Hip Hop Honors, Dear Mama, Trailblazer Honors and Logo's New Now Next Awards, as well as documentary specials including The T Word with Laverne Cox, Demi Lovato: Stay Strong and Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside. Kroft was also responsible for the development and production of series such as MTV's When I was 17, Todrick, and How I Made It. Kroft began his career as a production assistant for Parry in 1998 when she was a producer at MTV so this new role represents a re-teaming for the two.
"In just two short years, Live Nation Productions has brought fans closer to live music through a diverse slate of projects, and with this stellar team in place we'll be able to continue successfully exploring content for screens of all kinds," said Parry. "Between Matt's extensive film experience and Ryan's expertise with live TV, we're ready to ramp up even more amazing projects."
Both Kroft and Stein will be based at Live Nation's headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.
