NJPAC Announces New President and CEO

NEWARK, N.J., April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center announced today the appointment of John Schreiber as its new President and CEO, effective July 1st.   Schreiber currently serves as Executive Vice President, Social Action & Advocacy for Participant Media, a Los Angeles-based global entertainment company specializing in socially-relevant documentary and non-documentary feature films, television, publishing and digital media.  Participant's award winning films include An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night and Good Luck, The Cove, Waiting for Superman, Food Inc., Charlie Wilson's War, The Kite Runner, Syriana and many others.  Mr. Schreiber is responsible for managing the creation, development and execution of unique social action and advocacy campaigns for each Participant film.  A resident of Montclair, New Jersey since 2001, where he has three children in the public school system, Mr. Schreiber has been commuting to Los Angeles weekly for the past four years.

Schreiber will replace founding NJPAC President and CEO of twenty-two years, Lawrence P. Goldman, who will lead the Arts Center's new subsidiary, the Theater Square Development Corporation, focused on advancing NJPAC's founding mission to develop the land adjacent to the Arts Center.

"As we celebrate the many wonderful contributions Larry Goldman has made over the past two decades to New Jersey, the City of Newark, and our rich and diverse cultural environment, we simultaneously warmly welcome his very accomplished and capable successor John Schreiber to lead NJPAC," said William J. Marino, Chairman of the NJPAC Board of Directors who headed up the committee that conducted an international search for the Arts Center's new leader. "John brings great energy and a passion for the Arts Center's mission which he will enthusiastically apply to continue the wonderful traditions we have begun at NJPAC.  The Board and all the communities we serve welcome him with open arms and look forward to our successful collaboration."

"John is a talented and experienced leader with the right skills at the right time," said John R. Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO, Prudential Financial, Inc., a member of NJPAC's Board of Directors, and member of the search committee.  The committee, comprised of eight members of NJPAC's Board of Directors, conducted in-depth interviews over a period of several months with ten candidates from a large pool of applicants.

Termed "a visionary producer" and "impresario of brand names" by The New York Times,  Schreiber's career has encompassed award winning theater, television, concerts, festivals, documentary film, branded entertainment, and a host of other cultural and cause-related events.  His producer credits include the nationwide KOOL and JVC Jazz Festivals, the Newport Jazz Festival, the weekly television concert series Hard Rock Live (VH-1), the Benson & Hedges Blues Festivals, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (PBS), the New Yorker Literary and Arts Festival, the American Express Gold Card Grammy Festival, and, with the trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, the Harman: How to Listen music education program.  He received Emmy® and Tony® Awards as producer of the Broadway and HBO hit Elaine Stritch At Liberty.

"I'm delighted to be coming home to New Jersey to join the remarkable NJPAC community," said Schreiber.  "Larry Goldman's visionary leadership has resulted in a performing arts center unlike any other: a place where great performers, diverse audiences and unique arts education outreach combine to offer transformative experiences for audiences of all ages. I am excited and honored to offer my ideas and experience in the service of NJPAC's bright future."

Prior to joining Participant Media, Schreiber was President of George Wein's Festival Productions, Inc., the world's largest producer of music festivals, and The John Schreiber Group, an entertainment marketing firm he operated for ten years.  He was also President of Lafayette Productions LLC, a joint venture with the Margeotes Fertitta Powell advertising agency.

Schreiber's other credits include producing The President's Summit for America's Future, a multi-day event that inaugurated Colin Powell's America's Promise volunteer effort, plus the companion Fox network special Keeping America's Promise. For the Chinese government, he produced the New York cultural exhibition A Close Look at China.  He created, developed and was lead producer of the multi-media musical George C. Wolfe's Harlem Song, which ran for six months at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater and was lauded for the positive economic impact it delivered to Upper Manhattan.

"John Schreiber is the perfect choice to lead NJPAC," said Lawrence J. Wilker, former President of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and President and CEO of TheatreDreams.  "He is a brilliant programmer, inspiring leader, and cares very much about community."

Schreiber curated and produced Carnegie Hall's American Popular Song celebration for seven years, as well as the Kennedy Center's Open House multi-cultural festival. He produced Santana: The Celebration for the Grammy Foundation at Universal Amphitheater and Carole King: Making Music with Friends at Madison Square Garden for People Magazine's 25th anniversary. He produced America's largest comedy celebration, the Toyota Comedy Festival in New York, for 10 years, and developed the Marshall's Women In Comedy Festivals. He has been a producer of gala events at the White House for five Presidents.

He has consulted, developed and produced cause-related entertainment marketing initiatives for the American Museum of Natural History, National Public Radio, Partnership for A Drug Free America, Children's Television Workshop, Comedy Central, Bravo, the Juilliard School, the New York Pops, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, General Mills, Loew's Corporation, Miller Brewing Company, Altria, Pilot Pen, Mellon Bank, and the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Schreiber is on the national board of First Book, which provides hundreds of thousands of books to children in need across America each year. He is an honorary board member of the S.L.E. Foundation, which provides research and support for people with Lupus.

"Our search committee did a first-rate job in choosing John Schreiber to lead the Arts Center in its next chapter," said Lawrence P. Goldman, the Arts Center's founding President and CEO.  "He is a widely respected professional with a history of achievement and sensitivity to the values that NJPAC has tried to embody in its young life.  I can only wish John the same sense of joy and fulfillment that I have been privileged to experience these past twenty-two years."

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is the sixth largest performing arts center in the United States.  As New Jersey's Town Square, NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the State's and the world's best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city.  Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted over 6 million visitors (more than one million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.  Visit www.njpac.org for more information.

NJPAC is a wheelchair accessible facility and provides assistive services for patrons with disabilities.  For more information, call 888-GO-NJPAC.

SOURCE New Jersey Performing Arts Center