October 14, 2015

President of Ryan Seacrest Productions, Netflix exec to give keynotes at Nov. 14 Drucker Day on creative industry management

Emmy award winning producer and executive Eugene Young, president of Ryan Seacrest Productions, and Netflix Chief Talent Officer Tawni Cranz will headline the Drucker School of Management’s annual Drucker Day on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Tawni Cranz and Eugune Young
Tawni Cranz and Eugene Young

This year’s event will focus on creative organizations and how leaders can prepare and manage top talent.

Young an alumnus of Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School (EMBA 11) will speak about what it takes to manage creative shows like American Idol America’s Got Talent and Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Cranz also a Drucker School alumna (EMBA ’11) will discuss policies needed to retain talent such as Netflix’s recent decision to offer unlimited time off for new parents within the first year of a child’s birth or adoption.

Drucker Day which is open to the public will start at 8:30 am on the campuses of the Claremont Colleges. There will be a craft beer and wine tasting reception at 3 pm and a roast of long-time faculty member Jay Prag at 4 pm.

Other notable panelists include:

  • Lorenzo di Bonaventura film producer for di Bonaventura Pictures and di Bonaventura Television. Di Bonaventura has worked as an executive at Warner Bros Music and Paramount managing and producing major music and film projects such as the Transformers franchise.
  • Sharon Yazowski executive director of Levitt Pavilions. Yazowski runs the nonprofit organization behind the largest free concert series in America bringing live music to more than 500 000 people annually.
  • Juan Devis senior vice president of content development and production at KCETLink. For his work as a producer and Los Angeles public media “influencer ” Devis has won an Emmy Webby LA Press Award National Arts Journalism award and others.
  • Rebecca Clark (EMBA 08) President and CEO at LINC Housing. Clark has more than 25 years of experience creating strong communities and healthy residents through affordable housing leveraging over $100 million in real estate development in 2015.
  • Barry Goldstein (EMBA ‘04) project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A two time recipient of the NASA Exceptional Leadership Medal Goldstein has managed deep space projects focusing now primarily on Mars missions.
  • Ajit Sivadasan (MBA ‘99) VP/GM of Global eCommerce at Lenovo. Manager of the global web strategy for Lenovo across more than 70 countries.

Creative industries are a major force of innovation and economic competitiveness throughout California and the nation. Traditional industries also face competitive pressures to invent new ways of doing business in the global economy. The premier challenge is preparing and managing top talent that can drive this creative advantage.

“At Drucker Day we will hear executives across industries share their stories and discuss how you can prepare yourself and others to manage the unique challenges of thriving in creative organizations and the broader creative economy ” said Tom Horan dean of the Drucker School of Management.

General admission is $100.

For more information or to register go to www.druckeralumni.org/druckerday2015 or contact Rachel Jimenez at (909) 607-8087 or rachel.jimenez@cgu.edu.

About the Drucker School of Management



Claremont Graduate University’s Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management offers a variety of professional and doctoral degrees including MBA EMBA and the MS in Financial Engineering. It has expanded the traditional path in business education offering innovative programs such as the MA in Arts Management an MA in Politics Business and Economics and its focus on management for creative industries. Named for the father of modern business management education and world-renowned author and consultant Peter Drucker and accomplished global business leader and philanthropist Masatoshi Ito the school produces graduates who have a strong sense of social responsibility and a deep desire to make a difference by doing well while also doing good.