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On the Horizon: Noah Oppenheim

Jun 22, 2009  •  Post A Comment

Name: Noah Oppenheim

Title: Head of unscripted development for Reveille

Just this March, 30-year-old Noah Oppenheim was promoted to Reveille’s head of unscripted development less than one year after joining the production company, and he already has a high-profile project hitting broadcast TV, the NBC series “Breakthrough With Tony Robbins,” in the fall.

Mr. Oppenheim is not only in prime position to make waves in unscripted TV, but if history repeats itself, he may soon find himself in the footsteps of NBC Universal President & CEO Jeff Zucker.

Like Mr. Zucker, Mr. Oppenheim graduated from Harvard University, where he worked on the school’s daily newspaper “The Harvard Crimson.” Before joining Reveille, he was a senior producer at NBC’s “Today” show, where Mr. Zucker also served as executive producer before moving on to bigger positions at the network.

For the time being, though, Noah is focusing on creating a mark on reality programs.

NBC’s “Breakthrough” will follow the lives of people who need “radical intervention” in order to turn their lives around positively, Mr. Oppenheim said.

“It’s not going to be sad and weepy at all,” Mr. Oppenheim explained. “It will certainly touch people emotionally, but the goal is to motivate people and inspire them with what’s possible.”

Over at MTV, Mr. Oppenheim is working on “The Buried Life,” which will follow a group of four guys who compile a list of things to do before they die, and “The Alexa Chung Show,” which will take the place of the now defunct “Total Request Live.”

“We hope that the ‘Alexa’ show taps into what’s hip and the technology and culture that young people are excited about today,” Mr. Oppenheim said about the series and the pressure that comes with taking over the “TRL” role. “We hope it’s something that feels as contemporary and ‘with-it’ as ‘TRL’ did in its heyday.”

As for the next year, Mr. Oppenheim will work to make his current projects at Reveille successful. And if he continues on this trajectory, it won’t be long before he becomes a full-fledged member of the TVWeek Hot List.

—Sergio Ibarra

3 Comments

  1. Maybe if Harvard liar Wheeler was in truth reallly Harvard Law material, the idiot would have used a better story and would not have got un masked.

  2. Great Post! It’s very nice to read this info from someone that actually knows what they are talking about.

  3. Great post, thanks. Can you expand on the third paragraph in a little more detail please?

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