Laurie Ann Zaks is an American television producer. She has been the President of Television at

Mandeville Films Mandeville Films is an American film production company headquartered in Burbank, California. Founded in 1995 by David Hoberman the company re-formed as Mandeville Films and Television in 2002 after a short hiatus for three years, with Hoberman ...

since 2013. From 1981 to 1984, she worked at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. She served as an executive producer on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's drama series ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

'' (2009–2013), and on the short-lived ABC drama series' '' Wicked City'' (2015) and '' The Family'' (2016). Her son is film composer Zachary "Zach" Robinson.

Career

Zaks previously worked as Vice President of the Comedy Department at

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, where she was one of the executives originally hired to launch the network in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; Vice President of Series Programs at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, where she oversaw series such as ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

''; and Senior Vice President of Series Programs at

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

, where she oversaw series such as ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

'' and ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

''. Following her stints at these companies, she became President of Armyan Bernstein's Beacon Television. At Beacon Television, Zaks developed the pilot and served as executive producer of ''

'' for the

network. She was executive producer of the series from its first season in 2009, until its fifth season in 2013, when she left to work for Mandeville. Zaks launched her own production company, Second Season, in 2012. She served as executive producer on two of ABC's series, '' Wicked City'' (2015) and '' The Family'' (2016), and the sitcom web series ''

Sing It! ''Sing It!'' is an Television of the United States, American situation comedy streaming television series created by Fine Brothers, Benny Fine and Rafi Fine. It is executive produced by Benny Fine, Rafi Fine, Max Benator, Todd Lieberman, David Ho ...

'' (2016).

Filmography

As executive producer

* ''Ny-Lon'' (2009; unsold pilot for

ABC Studios ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...

) * ''

'' (2009–2013) * ''Sea of Fire'' (2014; unsold pilot for ABC Studios) * ''Warriors'' (2014; unsold pilot for ABC Studios) * '' Wicked City'' (2015) * '' The Family'' (2016) * ''

'' (2016)

As crew member

* ''

'' (1982–1986)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaks, Laurie 1954 births American women television producers Living people People from Plainview, New York Mass media people from Los Angeles Television producers from New York (state) Television producers from California 21st-century American women