Alum Profile COM’71, SED’75; CFA’79; COM’91

Bonnie Hammer, Nina Tassler, and Nancy Dubuc were included in the Power 100 list based on factors such as the revenue they generate for their companies, the number of employees they oversee, and their ability to green-light projects. Alums

CABLE EMPIRE Hammer was in Named to Bonnie Hammer (COM’71, SED’75) the right place at the right time when she landed her first job in television Power 100 production. The photography major happened to be taking pictures on List the set of Infinity Factory, a show A CFA and two COM produced by Boston public television station WGBH, the same day several grads chosen by production assistants were fired. A Hollywood Reporter producer asked if she wanted a job. “I walked on set and fell in love and knew from that day that television !"#$ %&# '( alumnae, they work in the was it,” she says. television industry, and, according to the Today, Hammer oversees a cable Hollywood Reporter, they are more pow- empire at NBCUniversal that includes erful than Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga. USA Network, Syfy, the E! Entertain- The three ranked in the top 10 in the ment channel, and the G4 network. publication’s 2011 Women in Enter- From Infinity Factory, Hammer tainment Power 100 list, released last went on to produce PBS shows such December, beating the likes of Winfrey as This Old House and the children’s MOST!WATCHED NETWORK After (number 20) and Gaga (number 30). program ZOOM. She moved to Lifetime graduating with a theater degree, Tassler !"##$% &'((%) (COM’71, SED’75), and then to USA, where she famously envisioned herself on stage, not as a tele- chair of NBCUniversal Cable Entertain- transformed the World Wrestling Enter- vision executive. She started her career in ment, led the trio, tying for second with tainment franchise from a quasi-sporting New York City, working at the nonprofit Amy Pascal, cochair of Sony Pictures event into appointment TV, where char- Roundabout Theatre Company while Entertainment. *$#' +',,-%) (CFA’79), acters and storylines rule the ring. auditioning for parts. Despite several president of CBS Entertainment, took Hammer next served as president of callbacks, she never landed that breakout seventh. And *'#./ 0121. (COM’91), Syfy, and then USA; she revamped each role that might have launched her acting general manager and president of the with envy-inducing results. USA has career. Tassler says the idea that “per- History Channel and Lifetime Network, topped all cable channels for 22 consec- haps I was destined to follow a different followed closely, in ninth place. utive quarters, and Syfy is now among creative path” eventually struck her. Editors used a number of criteria in the top 10 cable channels. She attained That path led her first to talent agency selecting the women, including revenue her current title last year. Irv Schechter Company and later to generated by candidates for their compa- Thomas Fiedler (COM’71), dean of the Triad Artists Group, where she worked nies, number of employees they oversee, College of Communication, says Ham- as an agent, representing stars like Tony and their influence within the industry, mer and Dubuc have been “great ambas- Curtis, Victoria Principal, and Meredith which encompasses their ability to sadors,” for BU, noting that Hammer Baxter. She then joined current boss green-light projects. serves on COM’s dean’s advisory board Leslie Moonves (Hon.’06) at Lorimar While flattered by her second-place and was the college’s 2009 convocation Television, now part of Warner Bros., slot on the list, Hammer takes the recog- speaker. She brands each of her networks before following him to CBS. nition with a grain of salt. with a distinctive personality that draws Since joining the network in 1997, “You can’t actually take any of these loyal audiences, he says, and most impor- Tassler has helped transform CBS into seriously, because it can come and go tant for business, a big advertising base. the most-watched network for eight of in a heartbeat,” she says. Hammer says that working her way the last nine seasons, with hits like CSI, up through the ranks, she didn’t dwell Survivor, and Two and a Half Men. She on whether her colleagues were women. was named president of entertainment Nina Tassler (CFA’79) “I’ve been fortunate to work for some in 2007. amazing people,” she says. “That said, Like Hammer, Tassler is honored to it’s still in many ways a man’s world.” have made the Hollywood Reporter list, She thinks boardrooms could benefit but says she doesn’t put much stock in from more equal representation of men lists and rankings. and women—of all ethnic backgrounds— “Years ago, I was given the advice: keep and would like to see more women and your head down and do your job,” she minorities in executive positions. says. “That is pretty much how I operate. “There are chinks in that glass ceil- Success and failure are both imposters, ing waiting for smart, open-minded, and what really matters most is the work and strong women and minorities to get itself—not how I rank.” through,” says Hammer, “but they don’t Walt Meissner (CFA’81), BU associate always make it easy.” vice president for operations, met Tassler

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memoir, with Bennet Mermel, a concentra- tion camp survivor.

!"#$% &'()'*$% (CFA’72) of Boston, Mass., recently displayed her artwork in the solo exhibition Animalmineralvegetable at the Smith College Museum of Art in Northamp- when she was an undergraduate and he HISTORY CHANNEL GROWTH ton, Mass. Classmates can contact Susan at was a grad student and remembers her Three things about Dubuc’s BU experi- [email protected]. as a talented actor. Her CFA education, ence stick out in her mind: crew, COM, he says, gave her an acute sense of what and the Daily Free Press. The first two 1973 makes a good story. helped make “a really large community “To be a great actor, you need to feel small.” And one COM assistant +,--(' .(%/ (COM’73, SED’73) of Oakland, really identify and sense the character professor in particular, Christopher Calif., showed her paintings and drawings and how the character fits into that Cakebread (COM’82, SED’00), made a in the solo exhibition WILD THINGS: The story—that’s what she’s talented at,” lasting impression. Unintended Landscape last fall at El Cerrito says the former CFA dean ad interim, “He very early on saw a fire in me City Hall in California. Her series depicted who named Tassler to his dean’s advi- that I didn’t see in myself,” Dubuc native and exotic plants she has encountered sory board. She currently serves as a recalls. “I think that’s something that’s in wilderness areas, in vacant lots, and on the University trustee. “She has great orga- invaluable for a student and is often edges of cultivated gardens. See more of her nizational and motivational skills and something you probably don’t realize work at www.lorriefink.com, or email Lorrie knows how to manage people and get until there’s some hindsight and years at [email protected]. everyone on the right path.” behind you.” They still keep in touch. Tassler says her industry is becom- Dubuc says the independent stu- 0'--1 !23"*$/'- (LAW’73) of Concord, ing more gender-balanced. She credits dent-run Freep gave her a sense of inde- N.H., was named to the New Hampshire Moonves for actively hiring women and pendence and an entrepreneurial spirit Ballot Law Commission for a four-year term. cites the work of her close friend Geena that prepared her for the working world Terry is an employment law attorney and Davis (CFA’79, Hon.’99), an Oscar-win- well before graduation. mediator at the law firm Bernstein Shur in ning actor whose Institute on Gender WGBH also proved a training Manchester, N.H. in Media monitors gender issues in film ground. Dubuc first worked on male- and television. dominated shows like This Old House 4$% 0-$*,%5$%, (CAS’73) of Albany, N.Y., “Women in leadership roles help cre- before becoming a series producer published her first novel, Standing on the ate an environment where TV content on the Discovery Channel’s Discover Corner of Lost and Found (JMT Writing reflects what impacts people’s regular Magazine. It was only after meeting Services, 2011). “I have been a secret writer lives,” Tassler says. “It also says that our Abbe Raven (number four on the Holly- for most of my life,” she writes. “I finally wood Reporter list), president and CEO came out of the closet about 10 years ago. of A&E Television Networks and her Through serendipity and the support of a Nancy Dubuc (COM’91) current boss, that she began wonder- writing group called WomanWords, every- ing what it would be like to work for thing changed. Sitting around my kitchen a woman. table with this group of talented writers, I “Part of the reason I took the job began the writing life I always wanted and was because I was curious about that,” am working hard to make up for lost time.” Dubuc says. “I’d always, from my Email Jan at [email protected], or internship days, gotten the advice: visit www.jantramontano.com. pick your boss, not the job.” She started working for Raven’s network in 1999 1974 and became president of the History Channel and Lifetime Network in 2007. 63(7(8 9-,:% (CFA’74) of Saint Johns- Since then, she has overseen the His- bury, Vt., was awarded the first Margaret tory Channel’s growth from a top-20 H. Shurcliff Leadership Award by Area I cable network to number 5. The popu- of the Handbell Musicians of America for larity of reality shows like Pawn Stars his efforts to promote the art of handbell and Swamp People has added hundreds musicianship. Philip is chair of the planning

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNAE COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHS of thousands of viewers to the network committee for the United Church of Christ in just the last year. Musicians Association national confer- industry values what women bring “She breathed new life into program- ence, which will take place in Vermont this to the table—in every aspect of the ming that was in search of some kind of summer. Learn more at www.uccma.org, or business—strength, leadership, mul- identity and edge,” Fiedler says. email Philip at [email protected]. titasking, in many cases motherhood, So far, working for a woman hasn’t complicated lives, and a strong sense been so bad, says Dubuc, joking that ;-53"- <$-$/$5#$%' (CAS’74) of Lynnfield, of community.” “we’re not divorced yet.” Mass., has been a member of the Mock Trial Still, Tassler says, network television In fact, she thinks more women Committee of the Massachusetts Bar Associ- could benefit from more strong female should be running companies. Does ation for more than 10 years. The committee characters, more women-directed that mean there will be a CEO Dubuc administers the annual high school mock tri- films, and more shows run and written in the future? That fire is still burning. al competition for 120 Bay State teams. This by women. Leslie Friday year’s case focused on high school bullying;

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