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The Ladder Program Staff
	Heidi Heller Banks Executive Director		Becky Holland Salt Lake City Coordinator
The Ladder Program Board of Advisors
	Steven Gary Banks Screenwriter		Lynelle Kerstine Sr Vice President, Creative Advertising New Line Home Entertainment		Laverne McKinnon President of Television 50 Cannon Entertainment
	James Middleton Consulting Producer Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles		John Nogawski President CBS Domestic Television

Executive Director Heidi Heller Banks

The Ladder Program's founder and Executive Director, Heidi Heller Banks, spent three years developing and teaching the Northwestern University Los Angeles Internship Program. Under her direction, the Internship Program enabled close to 75 students to pursue their dream of coming to Los Angeles to be part of the entertainment industry. The vast majority of the graduates of the Internship Program are currently working in the entertainment industry - the true measurement of a program's success!

An active member of the "Northwestern Mafia", the powerful alumni network from the prestigious Midwestern school, Ms. Banks has earned membership in the three professional actors' unions: Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Affiliated Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and Actor's Equity Association (AEA).

Having appeared Off Broadway in New York, on National Tours, in films and more recently on the small screen on such television shows as "The Closer", "Charmed", "Boston Legal", "Strong Medicine" and "Boston Public", Ms. Banks' credits span 15 years in the trenches of the entertainment industry.

With the dual successes of Northwestern's Internship Program and an acting career, Heidi Heller Banks brings her unique expertise and wide network of contacts to The Ladder Program.

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Salt Lake City Coordinator Becky Holland

Becky Holland has held a number of positions within the entertainment industry ranging from casting to working on the set of feature films and television movies of the week for such companies as Disney, ABC, CBS, NBC and assorted independent films. Ms. Holland has also worked for the Utah Film Commission.

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Ms. Holland has spent many years chairing various Executive Board positions for the annual Festival of Trees where her expertise has raised millions of dollars for the Primary Children's Medical Center.

Ms. Holland has spent innumerable hours on the roads in Los Angeles and is uniquely qualified to prep The Ladder Program participants for their time in California.

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Board of Advisors
The Board of Advisors is made up of a growing list of industry heavyweights with Utah connections who understand the importance of an internship in a successful entertainment career and are committed to bringing Utah a little closer to Hollywood. Board of Advisors include:

Steven Gary Banks

Steven Gary Banks is a prolific screenwriter having sold 11 feature screenplays to the major film studios including Disney, Miramax, New Line, Sony/Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Revolution Studios and Warner Brothers.  

In 2004, the first of these features, ARE WE THERE YET? - starring Ice Cube and Nia Long, was produced. In 2005, ARE WE THERE YET?, opened #1 at the box office and ultimately grossed over $85 million in it's domestic release.

Mr. Banks also works in television creating new series and has written five different pilots for the Fox and ABC networks. In 2006, Mr. Banks’ pilot, “Women In Law”, was produced by Sony Television for ABC and starred Regina King, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Paige Turkow and Kelly Williams.

Prior to his writing career, Mr. Banks worked as an independent producer developing and selling films to the various studios. He also worked in commercial production, traveling around the country to produce over 50 regional and national award-winning spots.

Mr. Banks started his career in Hollywood working at Morgan Creek Productions.

A native of Salt Lake City, Mr. Banks earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah's School of Communication.  

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Lynelle Kerstine

Lynelle Kerstine is Senior Vice President of Creative Advertising for New Line Home Entertainment. She leads the Division's creative department in developing key art, packaging and both print and broadcast advertising elements for trade and consumer outlets. She also works as New Line Home Entertainment's primary interface with New Line Cinema's theatrical creative team.  

Most recently, Ms. Kerstine was Vice President of Creative Services for MGM Home Entertainment, Inc. where she oversaw the creative execution of trade and consumer packaging, print and online advertising, trailers and television spots for MGM's prestigious library of titles. Ms. Kerstine's work at MGM has earned her two Key Art Awards and multiple Key Art Award nominations and six Promax Awards.

Previously, Ms. Kerstine enjoyed a tenure as Manager of Home Video Advertising at B.D. Fox, where she liaised between client and in-house creative services departments to develop and execute home video campaigns.  

Ms. Kerstine holds a bachelors degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Kerstine is married to a Salt Lake City native and University of Utah alum.

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Laverne McKinnon

Laverne McKinnon is the President of Television at 50 Cannon Entertainment.

Previously, Ms. McKinnon was Senior Vice President, Drama Development at CBS Entertainment, where she ran the creative development of one hour series programming for the network. She has developed an entire slate of top rated shows including "Criminal Minds", "The Ghost Whisperer", "Close to Home", "Cold Case", "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York".

Prior to joining CBS, Ms. McKinnon was Vice President, Creative Affairs, at Klasky Csupo, Inc., overseeing the development and sale of all television and feature projects for the Emmy Award-winning producers of  "The Simpsons" and "Rugrats."

Upon graduating from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Radio/Television/Film, Ms. McKinnon established herself as an award-winning producer and writer at Gerald T. Rogers Productions in Chicago, a leading producer of educational films. Ms. McKinnon also holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

Ms. McKinnon serves on the Northwestern University School of Communications Advisory Council and on the Board of Directors for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment.

Ms. McKinnon is married to an Emmy Award-winning native of Ogden, Utah.

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James Middleton

James Middleton is currently a Consulting Producer on “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” on FOX.

Previously, Mr. Middleton was Senior Vice President of Production & Development for prolific producers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna at C2 Pictures. Mr. Middleton is involved in the packaging, financing, marketing, licensing and brand management of all C2 Pictures assets, including Terminator 3, Basic Instinct 2, and I Spy. Beyond live action features, Mr. Middleton is expanding C2's business ventures into feature film animation and network television.  

Prior to C2, Mr. Middleton was a Senior Vice President with Sundance Productions. Sundance Productions, associated with the Sundance Institute, was dedicated to the production of independent cinema.

Mr. Middleton was previously Vice President of Development at United Artists and helped develop all UA projects including Goldeneye, Rob Roy, Man in the Iron Mask, and The Bird Cage. He also oversaw the acquisition of independent films Richard III and Hurricane Streets.

A graduate of the American University in Washington, D.C., Mr. Middleton earned his Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, winning awards for his thesis film Solo Run.

Mr. Middleton is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah.

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John Nogawski

John Nogawski is President, CBS Domestic Television, a position he has held since 2002. In his position, Mr. Nogawski oversees all distribution activities for CBS Paramount Domestic Television, as well as the marketing and promotion, research and finance for the Division, and all operations for CBS Paramount Advertiser Services, which is based in New York.

CBS Domestic Television currently produces and/or distributes seven series in first-run syndication, including "Entertainment Tonight", "ET Weekend", "ET on MTV", "The Insider", "The Montel Williams Show", "Judge Judy" and "Judge Joe Brown".  

The Division also syndicates one of the industry's most vaunted libraries of over 60,000 hours of television programming and titles. They range from cherished classics like "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners", to some of the most successful sitcoms in recent history, "Cheers" and "Frasier", and critically-acclaimed drama series such as "Medium", "NCIS" and "NUMB3RS".

Previously, Mr. Nogawski served as President, Distribution, Paramount Domestic Television, a position he held since 1999.

Mr. Nogawski joined Paramount in 1983, became an account executive in 1985, and was named Vice President, Eastern Manager, Paramount Domestic Television, in 1990. In 1992, he relocated to Los Angeles as Senior Vice President, General Sales Manager for the Division and was named Executive Vice President, General Sales Manager in 1994.

Mr. Nogawski graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and is married to a native of Salt Lake City.

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