Biography
Karen Annarino, a native of Los Angeles, began her passion for entertainment at the age of fifteen when she acted in several national television commercials. Five years later, with a B.F.A in Theatre Arts from Stephen's College, Columbia MO, she ran away and joined the circus, as the first American hired for the then unknown, French Canadian show, "Cirque Du Soleil." As pre-production director, production consultant and assistant general manager, Karen ended her 8 years with the company when she opened the premiere permanent installation, "Mystere", in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel.
Ms. Annarino spent the next several years working in Los Angeles in many capacities in film and television. In the year, 2000', she authored a book, "Stepmothers and Stepdaughters Relationships of Chance Friendships for a Lifetime (2001), and has been recognized by the "Stepfamilies Association of America." as an expert in the field.
Karen opened the Cirque Du Soleil's multi-million dollar extravaganza, "KA" at the MGM Grand and Casino where as the Director of Theatre Operations, (May 2005-Nov 2006), she created a new kind of theatrical customer service experience never seen in Las Vegas.
In 2007-2011, she worked on the ground floor of the growing 3D Initiative as the 3D Film Festival Director and managed the complex process of creating the world's first 3D On-Demand Portal as Encoding Producer at Nagravision, an information and technology service company.
In 2011, Karen was the the U.S. Film Producer for a documentary "American Passages" that premiered in the renowned "Cinema du Reel Film Festival in Paris and was in charge of pre-production, production, producing, casting and locations.
In 2014, Ms. Annarino worked with Jaki Baskow of Baskow and Associates as Executive Producer's of of a Live Stream Fanthom Live Event, Battle of the Strands at the Silverton Hotel in Las Vegas and in (2015) went on to co-create a first class boutique Speakers Bureau, (a new division of Baskow and Associates), that works with speakers from all around the globe covering a milieu of current topics in all genres: Celebrity, Sports, Politics, Motivation, Leadership and Work Culture to name a few.
Ms. Annarino continues to be an integral part of entertainment projects that are inspirational and close to her heart.
