Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Rothschild Ansaldi.
Lori, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from the University at Buffalo in 1996. I immediately moved to Manhattan and started working as a receptionist for a post production house called Pomann Sound. A about a year later, I moved to Maryland to be close to my fiance and started working at Menninger Media Services in Washington, DC where I managed the post production and closed captioning for National Geographic Explorer and the Travel Channel. The Travel Channel then hired me as a Production Coordinator. Travel Channel was part of Discovery Communications and I spent 1o years inside Discovery holding various positions in production. The most senior role I had at Discovery was Executive Producer for the Travel Channel where I worked on various shows for the network including Samantha Brown’s Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America, Passport to China and Passport to Great Weekends.
I was also the EP of Travel’s hit show The World Poker Tour. In 2010, I relocated my family to Los Angeles and started running development for an Australian based production company who opened an office in Santa Monica. I was with them for a year and then moved to LMNO Productions and ran development for there for five years. Under my tenure at LMNO, I developed and sold numerous shows to Discovery ID, A&E, TLC, Travel and History. DB Cooper: Case Closed? for History premiered in July 2016 to record ratings. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to open my own production company. I partnered with Lisa Bourgoujian who is an accomplished writer, director and showrunner. Together we opened Tent City Productions in August of 2016. In December of 2016, we entered into an overall deal with Fremantle Media North America.
Has it been a smooth road?
Life is never smooth. Sometimes the bumps are small and sometimes big – but all in all – they are learning experiences and are what shapes you as a professional. The biggest struggles in my career have been around poor managers. I have had stellar managers who have inspired and mentored my career in profound ways. I also had really, really bad managers – people who were so tied up in the politics of television that they simply could not get out of their own way. Others were just self-conscious … and just a lack of self-confidence that they pulled people down around them. All of them inspired me… showing me exactly the type of manager who gets the best out of their people.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Tent City Productions – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Tent City is a non-fiction production company that specializes in true crime and historical documentaries for all of the major broadcast, cable and digital networks worldwide. Our company also develops and produces programming in the lifestyle category including food, travel and real estate.
Lisa and I are best known to be “the crime girls.” We produce a lot of crime content for the networks and we are really proud of our expertise in that space. We work with law enforcement all over the country securing stories for our shows and we have a solid reputation with victim’s families which gives us the ability to go deeper into these stories. We also specialize in historical documentaries.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
As an East Coaster who now lives in LA, I have to say the weather is the best part of living here. However, I really love the social aspect of this city.
Los Angeles acts more European than other American cities in that it feels like Los Angelenos work to live. We think about things like eating outside and enjoying a sunset. I feel like we go out more in LA because there is so much to do and it creates an environment where the weekends are filled with fun and relaxation.
The worst part of LA for me is that everything shuts down at 2am. As a New Yorker, this just feels so early to me and it always bums me out when the lights come on and it’s time to go. At the same time, I also appreciate that it gets me home earlier and allows me to get up and enjoy the sunshine that is promised the next day.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2900 W Alameda Ave
Burbank CA 91505 - Website: www.tentcityprods.com
- Phone: 818-748-1100
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: LoriAnsaldi
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