Jamie Bennett, President

Prior to joining the festival, Jamie was the Chief Operating Officer of Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles for the prior six years where he was responsible for planning, operations, finance, campus, student and administrative functions. He’s credited with building a strong Board, creating the school’s current financial health and the purchase of the Los Angeles campus by negotiating the purchase and raising a bond issue to finance the acquisition. Before joining SCI-Arc, He worked extensively in nonprofits and as an executive in media companies in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London. He has been a business advisor, investor and Director with the Pasadena Angels, which specializes in local emerging growth companies. He served as CEO of worldwide productions at London-based Pearson Television,  (now Fremantle Media), as CEO of L.A.-based ACI television and as the senior vice-president and CEO of Disney’s Buena Vista TV Productions in Burbank. Prior to working for the Disney Company, Jamie worked for CBS for 13 years,  including 5 years as General Manager of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.  He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Jamie has served on the Public Television Advisory Board at the Annenberg School at USC and on the boards of the National 
Environmental Trust in Washington, D.C., Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, St. Nicholas Theatre in Chicago and Marlborough School in Los Angeles..