People Who Went To Penn: Matt Blank
December 6, 2011 at 10:13 am
Matt Blank W'72 (obviously, Matt LeBlanc's no-frills cousin) is the Chairman and CEO of Showtime, a position he's held since 1995. Blank hopped over to Showtime from HBO way back when and worked through the ranks, garnering positions like President and Chief Operating Officer in 1991 (piece o' cake), until he finally landed himself a spot as the network's top diggity dog.
A bunch of award-winning shows have "sprouted" under Blank's reign, including Weeds, Queer As Folk and the new BBC collaboration series Episodes (ah, and the Matt LeBlanc reference comes full circle).
Like any true Penn grad, Blank lives in NYC with his wife and kids, and is a big supporter of all things Jewish and gay. You can check out his exclusive advice on how to break into the TV industry on Wharton's site here.