TEAM

Jeff Gaspin

President, P.W.E.

Jeff Gaspin is a leader and innovator in broadcast, cable and digital media. Over the past 30 years, his blue chip resume and accomplishments include serving as Chairman of NBC Universal Television, where he was responsible for all business, creative and distribution for the company’s entertainment television portfolio, which generated more than $10 billion in revenue and nearly $3 billion in operating profits. He was responsible for two broadcast networks- NBC Entertainment and Telemundo, and the most profitable group of cable networks including USA Network, SyFy, Bravo and Oxygen. At NBC, his successes also included acquiring The Voice, shepherding Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and developing Grimm. He spearheaded the company’s aggressive move into online video, leading early deals with Netflix. He also played a key role in the formation of Hulu. Throughout his career, Gaspin defined the art of niche programming on cable, launching breakout hits “Behind the Music” and “Pop-Up Video” on VH1 and transforming Bravo with cultural phenomena like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Project Runway.” As head of alternative programming at NBC, Gaspin developed the hit shows “The Apprentice,” “The Biggest Loser” and “Deal or No Deal.” In addition to being nominated for two Emmy Awards, Gaspin was honored with the industry’s Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award and Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Entertainment Industry Award. In 2012, he formed Gaspin Media, the production and consulting company whose clients include AETN Networks, Clear Channel Communications, Discovery Networks, ITV Studios, Pilgrim Studios and multiple private equity firms. In 2014, he launched TAPP,an over-the-top subscription platform connecting niche personalities with their super fans. Gaspin serves as Chairman of TAPP. He is on the advisory boards of TowerBrook Captial and Taboola. He holds an M.B.A. in strategic planning from the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration and a B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife Karen, and has three children, Max, Samantha and Ben.

Cathy Schulman

CEO, Welle Entertainment & Head of Primary Wave Films

Cathy Schulman is a Best Picture Academy Award® winning producer and veteran film executive. Schulman was most recently the Head of Production for STX Entertainment. Having joined the company as one of its initial senior executives, Schulman managed an annual twelve picture slate.  Recent films under Schulman’s purview include the Summer 2016 hit Bad Moms, written and directed by The Hangover’s Jon Lucas and Scott Moore and starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate; and  the critical darling The Edge of Seventeen, written and directed by Kelly Freemon Craig, who is nominated for a 2017 DGA Award, and starring Woody Harrelson and Hailee Steinfeld, for whom it garnered a Golden Globe nomination.  Her upcoming releases include The Space Between Us (February 3), directed by Peter Chelsom and starring Gary Oldman and Asa Butterfield; and The Foreigner, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan. Under her own Bull’s Eye Entertainment banner, Schulman produced Crash, directed by Paul Haggis and starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Terrence Howard. In addition to Schulman receiving the film’s Best Picture Oscar in 2006, Crash received Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Among many of the notable films Schulman has produced are  Horns, Voices, Bernie, Soul Surfer, Thumbsucker,  and The Illusionist. She also developed and arranged the financing for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.

Schulman has been the President of Women In Film, the industry’s leading advocacy organization for women in media, since 2011. Schulman is also a  member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences,  a USC Stark Program producer’s mentor and has taught graduate level film producing at UCLA and the Dodge College of Film Media and Arts at Chapman University, where she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. She has also served as a judge for the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. She is a notable industry spokesperson and public speaker and most recently gave the 2016 media address for International Woman’s Day at the United Nations. Schulman is a graduate of Yale University, with a double major in Theater Studies and History of Art.  She is the mother of one daughter and resides in Los Angeles, California.

Tony Sabistina

Director of Development, Television

Before joining Primary Wave, Tony Sabistina served as a production associate for two seasons on FX’s one-hour series The Americans. Prior to his time on the New York-based show, he spent over two years working at FX Networks, covering multiple projects in development, and scouting writers and talent for the cable buyer. He also previously worked with producer Jerry Bruckheimer from 2007 to 2010, gaining valuable experience in both film and television, providing daily support to their President of Production, President of Films, and Executive Vice President of Television. Tony graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in English, and currently lives in the Beachwood Canyon section of Los Angeles.