DOCERE Palace Studios, LLC

Tim Smith, right, on location.

THE TEAM

Tim Smith
Co-Managing Partner, Docere Palace Studios

Mr. Smith is the CEO and principal owner of Docere Digital Studios, based in Rowayton, Conn., and New York City. He is a veteran of both television and commercial production, having worked over the years for Seven Seas Cinema, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, Unapix Entertainment, Newsweek Productions and now, Docere Palace Studios.

Shortly after he received his masters from Columbia Journalism School, Mr. Smith, along with his older brother, Michael, set up Seven Seas Cinema in New York City. At Seven Seas, he moved the company into the production of television and political commercials as well as films for universities and colleges including: Brown, Colgate, UCLA, University of Rochester, and Bryn Mawr.

In 1983, he was hired as a producer for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. At TheNewshour, he was charged with conceiving and producing 12-15 minute, magazine-style tape pieces in the areas of science, medicine and education. In all, he produced over 100 pieces on diverse subjects ranging from the economics of the sneaker industry...to the conundrum of whether the universe is expanding or contracting...to an epidemiological look at America's bloody culture of violence. In addition to two EMMY nominations and an EMMY Award, his segments received screenings both before the U.S. Senate and the White House. Two of his stories for The NewsHour became made for television films.

After The NewsHour, Mr. Smith moved into the world of non-fiction television as vice president for development and production at Unapix Entertainment and then became president of its Docere division. During his tenure, Mr. Smith moved Unapix into the co-financing and production of quality non-fiction content on a global basis—building Unapix into a leading non-fiction studio. The non-fiction series he developed and produced met the demanding needs of both broadcasters and viewers: Ushuaia (26x 60, CNBC) tripled the ratings of its predecessor series and was aired repeatedly. Superstructures (11 x 60, TLC) far exceeded expected ratings and was renewed for a third season. For Animal Planet, he developed a reality series, ESPU (13 x 30). This series showcased the behind-the-scenes exploits of South Africa's famed Endangered Species Protection Unit.

In all, Mr. Smith developed and oversaw the production of 90 hours of original non-fiction and reality programming for Unapix—much of it based on his own concepts. He also initiated strategic marketing alliances with a number of media companies to help co-market Unapix series, bring in additional revenues and help develop ancillary products. Those companies included: Disney Publishing, Carlton Television (UK), Time Inc., Wiley & Sons, Simon & Schuster Audio, Forbes, WGBH, PBS, and Warner Home Video.

It was while he was at Unapix that the Docere unit was established as a separate division of Unapix. Docere was dedicated to the production of high-quality, non-fiction programming and series. Mr. Smith came up with the idea for a Docere division and was appointed the division's president.

In 2000, Mr. Smith joined Newsweek Productions as a vice president. His charge was to help the company expand its television programming into new and varied outlets. From $2 million in sales in 1999 and only one broadcast outlet (PBS), Mr. Smith ramped up Newsweek's production into $5 million of television sales by 2002. New broadcast clients included: CNBC, A&E, MSNBC, AMC, The History Channel and National Geographic Channel.

He also initiated a co-venture between Carlton Television (UK) and Newsweek Productions. The goal was to jointly develop and produce non-fiction programming for the U.S. and international television markets. The co-venture, called Newsweek/Carlton Television (NCTV), combined the content strength and brand name of Newsweek with the international distribution and television capability of Carlton. In their 2001 Annual Report, Carlton described NCTV as "one of our great success stories of 2001."

One of Mr. Smith's more successful endeavors for Newsweek Productions was creating Surviving West Point, a 14 x 30 reality series for National Geographic Channel. This $2.2 million series aired to wide acclaim in October, 2002. It was backed by a marketing and promotional campaign funded by Boeing with ads in Newsweek and The Washington Post. The series was recently released as both a DVD and home video by Warner.

In 2002, having already established his formula for producing, packaging and funding high level, high concept non-fiction programming, Mr. Smith left Newsweek Productions to re-launch Docere Digital Studios. Docere is now an independent corporation 100% owned by Mr. Smith.

Chris Campbell
Co-Managing Partner, Docere Palace Studios

Chris Campbell is a business owner, a well-known educator in the areas of organizational communications, and an established creative presence in the video and film industry for the past three decades. He owns several businesses, including Praxis Media Inc., a corporate communications consulting think tank, and is the Chairman and CEO of the Palace Production Center, which operates media production studios in Connecticut and Manhattan. Chris is also the managing partner of Rabbit Ears Entertainment, a children’s television company, and general partner in developing the Palace Theater in South Norwalk, Conn.

In his creative capacity, Chris has worked for more than 25 years in the television and electronic production industries. His credits include a wide range of award-winning television dramas, music specials and documentaries as well as several award-winning children’s video series. The latter include the Rabbit Ears series, the Dr. Suess home videos and Sesame Street Start-To-Read series, among others. He is the President and CEO of Praxis Media Inc. and has completed in excess of $50 million in contract programming over the past decade. Praxis Media Inc. is rated one of the nation’s top 100 independent contract producers by Hope Reports. Chris is recognized as an expert in applying emerging new media technology to the creative process and as the majority owner of the Palace Production Center, is actively engaged in creating the next generation of Internet, World Wide Web television and film production techniques.

As an organizational communications consultant, he has worked on strategic communications projects with some of the largest of the Fortune 500 companies in the world. Projects included mergers and acquisitions, product rollouts, brand repositioning and crisis management. His particular specialty is applying new technologies in conjunction with the most sophisticated of human communications skills in the areas of leadership, quality and global competitiveness. He has taught communications seminars and courses at many corporations and also provides media presentation training to highly-placed corporate executives.

The winner of numerous awards, Chris’s honors include “Best Drama” from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, various Emmy nominations and over 100 other industry citations and film competition awards, including the New York Film Festival, the Telly’s and ITVA.

Chris has taught at several universities including Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University and various professional institutes. He holds a BA in Psychology, a Masters in Education and a Doctorate in Communications, Computing and Information Technology from Columbia University in New York. He serves on the Board of Directors of Connecticut Public Television, the National Corporate Theater Fund, The Evergreen Foundation for Aids Relief, The Fairfield University Trustee Advisory Board, and the Film Makers Educational Cooperative in Bridgeport, Conn.

Brian Breger
Producer/Writer/Director

For well over a decade, Brian Breger has been creating prize-winning documentary and fiction films distinguished by their storytelling and drama. He has just finished Inside Special Forces, an exclusive look at unconventional warfare in the post-9/11 era through the eyes of the men who wage it, for broadcast on PBS. Before that came Last Of the Sea Gypsies,a one-hour portrait of a South Asian tribal people on the verge of being erased by the Burmese government. Last year, he produced Surviving West Point, a 14-part verite series about one of America’s premier military institutions during the year of September 11 th. Prior to the series Breger completed Vietnam’s Unseen War: Pictures From the Other Side, a first-time-ever film about North Vietnamese war photographers. All of these shows were commissioned by National Geographic.

Many of his other recent shows have also been for National Geographic, among them Elephant Power, a groundbreaking film that explores the tragic conflict between wild elephants and people in Burma and the ocean conservation film Search For the GiantBluefin. Breger also wrote, directed and produced the highly-regarded, Emmy-nominated two-hour special presentation called The Battle for Midway, a portrait of the men who fought in World War II's most important naval clash.

During the last several years he also made other large-scale films, such as a just-aired two-hour romp through the fields of the ultra-wealthy called THE FORBES 400: Inside the Rich List for A&E, a sweeping three-hour historical look at freedom in America, Story of America, for Reader's Digest Television and Discovery’s two-hour up-close encounter with nature in flames, Firestorm.

Earlier in the ‘90s, he served as Senior Producer and Senior Writer for National Geographic Explorer, overseeing a wide range of original natural history, adventure and history films. Breger's shows have won several National Emmys and many other awards during his long association with National Geographic.

Before joining Geographic, Breger was a free-lance writer/producer on many diverse documentary projects—from the social history of George Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess to an in-depth investigation of capitalism in contemporary Russia. (Both shows aired on PBS.)

Formerly a member of Third World Newsreel, one of America's key independent producers of social issue films, he wrote and helped produce a number of documentary and dramatic projects for public television and the National Endowment for the Humanities including: Permanent Wave, a satirical comedy set in a neighborhood beauty-parlor; Chronicle Of Hope: Nicaragua, an incisive portrait of the Sandinista Revolution; and Mississippi Triangle, a provocative exploration of race and class in the Mississippi Delta.

For many years, Breger worked as a producer and screenwriter in the independent feature world. He has written and directed his own dramatic films, among them: Off-Season, an award-winning adaptation of August Strindberg's celebrated play The Stronger, which received its premiere at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Breger is currently developing Evening Light, a historically-based dramatic feature, under the auspices of the Documentary Center at George Washington University.

Breger taught screen writing at New York University's Writing Center for eight years. He has also given filmmaking classes at Sarah Lawrence and lectured at George Washington University and Antioch College. In his other, literary life, he has published three books of poetry; a new one, Secret Language, will appear next year.

Scott Bryce
Manager, Development of Original Programming and Features
Docere Palace Studios

Scott is the 3rd generation of his family in “The Business”. As an actor, Scott has an extensive career on stage, television and film. He has appeared on Broadway (Caesarand Cleopatra), off Broadway (Sally’s Gone She Left Her Name) and in many regional theatre venues. On television Scott was twice nominated for a Best Actor Emmy award for his work on As the World Turns. He then starred with Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Beals in the Joel Schumacher directed series 2000 Malibu Road. More recently, Scott was series regular “Mike McQueen” on the WB’s Popular. He has had recurring roles on Factsof Life, Murphy Brown, LA Law and Whoopie.

Scott has co-starred in TV movies and miniseries such as Pandora’s Clock, Visions of Murder and Exclusive. He has guest starred in dozens of TV series including: ER, Reba, Law & Order, and Sex in the City.

In feature films he was “Rob Sullivan” in Up Close and Personal with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, and has appeared in Above Freezing, Ghost Dog and LethalWeapon 3. Scott also co-wrote and starred in the award-winning short comedy film TV-Dad. And, he directed and co-produced the documentary film Camp Homeward Bound.

On the corporate side, Scott has been a Producer/Director for many clients including: Canada Dry, Sun Oil, Grey Advertising, GE, American Express, Bayer, Altria, Vivometrics, and others. Scott is honored to be associated with Docere Palace Studios, where his role includes the development of original programming and features.

Wendy Lambert
Senior Vice President, Docere Palace Studios

Wendy Lambert is President of Palace Digital Studios, a full-service digital audio and video production and post, computer graphics design and animation and multimedia production studio located in South Norwalk, Conn. As Executive Producer/Creative Director for Palace Digital Studios, she has produced many award-winning programs for broadcast television and corporate communications. Clients include: General Electric, Kraft General Foods, Pepsi, IBM, US Surgical, IBM, ESPN, Outdoor Life Network, CBS, PBS, Discovery Channel, A&E Network, and MTV Networks.

While working in Manhattan in the late 1980s, she was Graphics Producer and Director of Marketing for Electric Picture Works, a division of VideoWorks Inc. While at Electric Picture Works, she produced graphics projects for MTV Networks, ESPN, NBC Entertainment, NBC Sports, USA Network, and Children's Television Network. She also worked at R/Greenberg Associates, producing graphics for commercials.

She has served on the board of directors and is a Past President of the Broadcast Designer’s Association (BDA International).

Tom Moore
Executive Vice President Palace Creative Services Group

Tom Moore is Executive Vice President of Palace Creative Services Group, a division of Palace Production Center, where he is responsible for oversight of all live meetings and special events, video and film production and Internet streaming, and cross-platform media deliverables.

Since joining the Palace in 1999, Tom has produced numerous sales and leadership meetings and video projects in the U.S. and at international locations, while his creative/technical team has delivered interactive CD projects for corporate training, sales initiatives and HR needs.

Prior to joining the Palace, Tom was President/CEO of North Country Media in Stamford, Conn., and President of Kolmor Visions Ltd. (NYC/CT), both corporate communications/broadcast firms with clients ranging from Pitney Bowes and Merrill Lynch to Lucent Technologies, General Motors, JCPenney and ESPN. He also managed Greenwich Video Productions, providing studio facilities to corporations in the tri-state area. He has won numerous industry awards as director/producer/cameraman, including the Telly, Aurora, U.S., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami industrial film festivals.

He began his career at JCPenney as an internal communications associate, producing internal productions as well as documentaries for the corporation. He left to become a second unit film cameraman and editor for Frank Kolarek Films in Manhattan. This work included 35mm “on-location” work for the soap As the World Turns in Greece, numerous TV commercials, as well as yearly Chevy Truck new product demonstrations throughout the U.S. for periods of 10-18 weeks per demo.

A graduate of Schiller College-Europe and the London Film Academy, he trained in various film disciplines—editorial, camera and directorial—and joined NABET 15 in New York City as videographer in 1979. In London he worked exclusively with Kevin Sheldon, BBC director of Rob Roy and Oliver Twist.

Deborah A. Weingrad
Editorial Director/Project Manager
Palace Production Center

Deborah A. Weingrad has served as Editorial Director and Project Manager for Palace Production Center/Praxis Media, Inc. and its Creative Services Group since 1987, handling speech and script writing assignments and proposal development for corporate clients and non-profit agencies. She is also responsible for coordinating public relations and proposal development for Docere Palace Studios, LLC.

Before joining the staff at the Palace, Ms. Weingrad founded DW Communications, a public relations firm based in Fairfield County, Conn., serving local and national clients, including the Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, American Express, and Union Carbide. She has also written many articles for communications industry publications.

From 1984 to 1986, she was director of promotion and public affairs at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., and immediately before joining NPR, she was a public relations account executive at Mintz & Hoke Advertising and Public Relations, Inc., Avon, Conn., handling business-to-business communications for industrial and consumer clients. Prior to that, she managed the public information department for Connecticut Public Television and Radio, directing all advertising, promotion, press relations and fund-raising publicity for the statewide joint licensee. She has also served as director of the news office at Connecticut College in New London, Conn., and began her career as a police reporter for the daily Norwich Bulletin.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in English and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.