Biografía
Larry Namer is an industry veteran with over 50 years of entertainment experience. He is best known as the founder of E! Entertainment Network, a network that continues to shape pop culture today and has launched the careers of many of today's pop culture superstars from Howard Stern to The Kardashians.
Following E! Entertainment's success, Larry branched off to develop other entertainment platforms including LJN Media, where Larry serves as the President of Metan and Chairman of LJN Media, a development firm that specializes in entertainment related projects and platforms. LJN Media is the parent company of several unscripted projects such as Uncanceled?, Conscious Parenting, and Stall Talk Podcast.
After graduating Brooklyn college, Larry started his career with Manhattan Cable as an underground splicer. It was there that he recognized the potential of cable's future, learning to spot emerging trends within the world of media. He eventually rose up the ranks to become Director of Operations and then finally Director of Corporate Development. In that cast role at MCTV he was in charge of finding new uses of cable television outside being a channel provider and then building those as businesses and revenue streams. When he departed MCTV the non-traditional businesses he developed became the largest provider of net profits to MCTV. Larry's keen insights were noticed and soon, he was recruited to become the Vice President and general Manager of Valley Cable TV, where he was put in charge of building the first 61 channel two-way interactive cable system in the U.S.. When the owners of Valley Cable sold out and moved back to Canada he decided to stay in Los Angeles and put his entrepreneurial dreams to work.
Namer quickly noticed a discrepancy between the type of media that audiences wanted to see and what was being shown on television. Joining forces with Alan Mruvka, the pair launched their first business venture, Movietime, later renamed E! Entertainment Television in order to expand its focus from just film to covering the entire world of media and entertainment.
Now valued at over 5 billion USD, the platform revolutionized entertainment through exclusive celebrity gossip and information on upcoming films. Launching the success of countless television personalities, E! gave rise to programs such as E! News, the Howard Stern Show, Fashion Police, Talk Soup, and The Kardashians. Within a few years, E! would prove to be the fastest growing network in the world. With a broadcast reach of over 140 countries, Larry had achieved success beyond what anyone could have anticipated.
While still involved with E! he launched Comspan Communications, a company that introduced global concerts, media, and entertainment to Russia. Larry was the first to bring these western shows and musical acts to the post Soviet TV landscape. Most notably was the introduction of Santa Barbara (the soap opera) to Russian audiences where it ran 5 times per week for 10 years. Comspan was the organizer of the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg which raised much needed funding for the orphanage and children's hospital for that city. Having involvement in music with the festival, Comspan spun out a concert division which presented over 300 western artists to the Russian audiences. Among those were artists such as David Bowie, Julio Iglesias, Sheryl Crow, Ringo Starr, and the Three Tenors.
Following this achievement, Larry worked as the primary consultant to Microsoft for interactive TV strategy (MiTV) where he and his team developed many of the creative concepts now commonplace in today's digital media sphere. Moving on to be consultant to World Digital Media, a joint venture between Sirius Radio Shack and Dish Network, he created the hot TV series City Sessions which brought many new music acts to the forefront of the music world. Larry then launched Television which was one of the first streaming video platforms on the internet. With Sebastien Perioche, founder of Eurocinema, he guided that company to become the HBO of foreign film.
In 2009, Larry was brought in as a consultant on media restructuring in China to allow for western advertising standards. There he was offered the opportunity to start the first US/China production company in China. Larry then launched Metan Global Entertainment Group (MGEG), working to create content for Chinese speaking audiences. Finding unprecedented success in this venture, Larry went on to be nominated for the best Asian comedy writer for his series, "Return to Da Foo Tsun". The show ran for 72 episodes and marks the first time a western writer/producer has ever gotten a comedy show on national Chinese television.
The entrepreneur has taken on roles in various entertainment projects in China and the US. He is the executive producer of the feature film, "Empress", a Chinese series titled "Explore The World' ', and a 10 episode crime series known as "Nova Vita". Working with Keanu Reeves and Shannon Lee, MGEG helped create a competition series titled "The Bruce Lee Project."
Recognized for his accomplishments, Larry has received Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2018 Hollywood Tribute Awards, the 2019 Hollywood China Night, and the 2020 French Riviera Film Festival. He was also awarded The Tribeca Disruptor Award at the Novus Summit, an event held at the United Nations.
Larry continues to work in entertainment through seeking new talent and giving many a platform in the industry.
