The Briefing Room

Commission on Culture & Tourism Presents 2007 Governor‘s Conference on Culture & Tourism Awards.

The Unity Awards Recognize Outstanding Achievement and Lasting Contributions to the Arts, History, Film and Tourism Fields. The Film Award for Producer of the Year is given to a filmmaker, individual or company that demonstrates excellence, innovation or achievement in the creation of entertainment or commercial multi-media.

Chris Campbell, a resident of South Norwalk, Conn., is an award-winning film and television writer, producer, and director, as well as a successful business entrepreneur. Over the past quarter of a century, he has produced an impressive body of work in broadcast and corporate media as well as children‘s entertainment, while building a premiere, independent creative and production facility–the Palace Production Center–that has served as one of the anchor businesses in the revitalization of South Norwalk, Conn.

Today Campbell is chairman and CEO of Palace Production Center, Inc., one of the more successful mid-size television and electronic media production organizations in the country. Palace owns and operates Connecticut-based Palace Digital Studios and Praxis Media, Inc., and also has offices in the Tribeca Film Center in Manhattan. Additionally, Campbell is a managing partner in Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC, an award-winning children‘s and family publishing company; and Docere Palace Studios, a non-fiction television production company.

He–and Palace–were among several honorees from the Arts, Film, Heritage Preservation and Tourism at the 2007 Unity Awards Dinner held on May 1 at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.

The Unity Awards Dinner kicked off the 2007 Governor’s Conference on Culture & Tourism and recognizes outstanding achievement and lasting contributions to the arts, history, film and tourism fields.

FOR MORE INFORAMTION CONTACT Deb Weingrad 203-536-6638 deb@palacedigital.com

Following is a more detailed description of the accomplishments that garnered Campbell, and the Palace, this prestigious award.

Chris Campbell, Chairman & CEO/Creative Director, Palace Production Center and Praxis Media, Inc., Co-Managing Partner, Docere Palace Studios, LLC and Executive Producer, Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC

Chris Campbell is an award-winning film and television writer, producer, and director, as well as a successful business entrepreneur. Over the past quarter of a century, he has produced an impressive body of work in broadcast and corporate media as well as children‘s entertainment, while building a premiere, independent creative and production facility that has served as one of the anchor businesses in the revitalization of South Norwalk, Conn.

Today he is chairman and CEO of Palace Production Center, Inc., one of the more successful mid-size television and electronic media production organizations in the country. Palace owns and operates Connecticut-based Palace Digital Studios and Praxis Media, Inc., and also has offices in the Tribeca Film Center in Manhattan. Additionally, he is a managing partner in Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC, an award-winning children‘s and family publishing company; and Docere Palace Studios, a non-fiction television production company.

Since its founding in 1979, Praxis Media, Inc. has completed in excess of $55 million in contract programming and is rated one of the nation‘s top 100 independent contract producers by Hope Reports.

Palace Digital Studios is home to numerous broadcast and cable television networks, independent producers, corporate communicators, and ad agencies, offering HD and SD audio and video production and post, a broadcast studio with motorized lighting grid, 2D and 3D computer graphics design and animation, video duplication, standards conversions and multimedia production services to the tri-state area‘s production community. For several years the Tour de France was broadcast through Palace in Connecticut and Palace studios in New York were a major supplier of production services to the advertising community and to MTV, Viacom, and A&E, to name a few. Last year, Palace was tapped to produce the opening video for the December 2006 White House Summit on Malaria.

Rabbit Ears, which began at the Palace, is an award-winning children‘s programming producer with more than 60 programs currently in distribution around the world on both broadcast and cable TV, as home DVDs, video and audio tapes and books. The signature Rabbit Ears production is The Velveteen Rabbit, narrated by Meryl Streep. Several new shows currently are in production, and Random House recently re-released the entire catalog as audiobooks. A select number of titles are being featured exclusively at Starbucks locations nationwide. AudioFile Magazine named the Rabbit Ears storybook recordings to its list of Top 7 Family Listening picks for 2006.

Docere Palace Studios produces original, non-fiction television for the U.S. and international broadcast markets. The most recent productions include Wings of Madness, a documentary about aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, which aired on PBS-NOVA last November; Inside the Presidency with Bob Woodward, which aired on The History Channel in January 2005; and a project with Comcast/Outdoor Life Network called Last Breath. Other recent projects include a documentary on former New Jersey Governor Kean and another on the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The production company is also the recipient of a Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant to develop a multimedia series on American history targeted to middle school students.

The Palace Production Center draws its name from its headquarters building–The Palace Theater in South Norwalk, Conn. One of Chris‘ labors of love has been the refurbishment and renovation of the historic vaudeville theater, once one of the many Palaces on the straw-hat circuit that new plays traveled on their way to Broadway. More recently, the Palace has been the site of a series of live play readings, a program initiated and sponsored by Chris to gain recognition for new playwrights.

Chris has maintained the character of the theater while completing one of the few successful conversions of such an historic building to a high-tech purpose; it is currently one of the most advanced, digital production studios in the country.

In addition to his work as a business organizational communications consultant to many Fortune 500 companies over the past 25 years, Chris has taught at several universities, including Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University, and at various professional institutes. The winner of numerous awards, Chris‘ honors include various Emmy nominations and more than 100 other industry citations and film competition awards, including the New York Film Festival, Tellys, and ITVA.

For the past two decades, his companies have been active contributors to the National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) and have produced many of its promotional and fund-raising materials. He serves on the Board of Directors of NCTF, helping the membership organization raise corporate dollars to support the country‘s 11 top regional theaters (among them, New Haven‘s Long Wharf). In 2005, he was honored with the NCTF‘s Chairman‘s Award for outstanding contributions.

During his early directing career, Chris adapted and directed several stage productions for public television. One original production broadcast nationally by PBS earned the “Best Drama Award” from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He has also strayed into producing and distributing live music specials for home video, among them shows shot at Carnegie Hall and the oldest dance hall in Texas. Chris produced and directed programming for PBS when he served as program director and then station manager for Connecticut Public Television‘s Fairfield studio, before founding his own company.

He holds a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Education from Fairfield University, and a Doctorate in Communications, Computing and Information Technology from Columbia University in New York. He has served on the Board of Directors of Summit Bank, Conn., as well as on the boards of a variety of non-profits, in addition to National Corporate Theater Fund, including Connecticut Public Broadcasting, The Evergreen Foundation for Aids Relief, The Fairfield University Trustee Advisory Board and the Film Makers Educational Cooperative in Bridgeport.

Chris‘ most important project to date (and probably forever) is his family. He is married to Deborah Weingrad Campbell and is blessed with two extraordinary children, Matthew and Rachel, both of whom place his previous contributions to the world in proper perspective.

FOR MORE INFORMATION contact: Deborah A. Weingrad, Vice President & Editorial Director

Palace Production Center / Creative Services Group / Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC

29 North Main Street, South Norwalk, CT 06854 203-536-6638 deb@palacedigital.com

www.palaceproductioncenter.com www.rabbitears.com