Howard Owens is an innovative and experienced entertainment executive with a strong reputation for identifying trends and pioneering new concepts. Throughout his career, Owens has uncovered new business opportunities, fostered impressive growth and deftly maneuvered emerging platforms and technologies.

Owens oversees the programming, development, research, scheduling, communications and business affairs units at the U.S. domestic channels — which include the National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo Mundo — and works closely on the strategic business efforts of the networks' ad sales and affiliate teams.

Most recently, Owens served as lead managing director at Reveille LLC, where he was a founding partner and managed a team of more than 80 full-time employees. With direct oversight of reality and scripted television, digital and branding, TV production, legal and finance, he helped guide the creation and/or production of groundbreaking series such as The Restaurant (NBC), Nashville Star (USA, NBC), Blow Out (Bravo), 30 Days (FX), The Biggest Loser (NBC), MasterChef (FOX), The Buried Life (MTV) and others.

There, he also constructed a joint venture with Microsoft to create and produce more than 30 digital series financed by numerous Fortune 500 brands. Owens crafted a content venture partnership with Yahoo! and created the immensely popular Who Knew digital series on the Yahoo! News website.

Owens began his career in entertainment as an agent trainee in the William Morris mailroom, later advancing to an agent in the corporate consulting and television packaging divisions. He represented leading television producers, intellectual property and top brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Maxim, InStyle, eBay and Miramax Films. Before William Morris, Owens cofounded an outdoor media company based in New York City and Tokyo that was later purchased by Titan Media/New York. Prior to his career in media, Owens was a practicing attorney in Bridgeport, Conn.

Within the industry, Owens is widely respected and actively involved, recently serving as co-chairman of the RealScreen Summit from 2009 to 2011. He sits on the advisory boards for both GeekChicDaily and Yoshimoto Kogyo, serves as a board member for the Environmental Media Association and is an original board member responsible for the launch of the Los Angeles-based children's charity Baby2Baby.

His awards include two Insight Awards of Excellence from the National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists, a GLAAD Award, a 2005 Voice of Courage and Conscience Media Award by the Muslim Public Affairs Council and a PGA award nomination.

Speaking on: In Conversation With Howard T. Owens