Julie Shapiro Joins Freeform as Senior Vice President, Business Affairs

Julie Shapiro has been named senior vice president, Business Affairs, Freeform, it was announced today by Tom Ascheim, president, Freeform, to whom she will report. A trusted advisor, Shapiro joins the network from APA Talent Agency where she most recently served as senior vice president, head of Business & Legal Affairs/general counsel since 2012. Julie will start on December 12, 2016.

In her new role, Shapiro will oversee all Business Affairs functions, lead strategy, structure and negotiations on all development and production deals for Freeform's scripted and unscripted series, movies, events and acquisition projects, in addition to managing the Business Affairs team.

In making the announcement, Ascheim said, "Julie is a well-respected television executive with vast experience in negotiating smart deals that help the business move ahead. We're thrilled to have her join our FreeForm team."

"It's more important than ever for networks to brand themselves and program cross-platform," said Shapiro. "Freeform is doing just that and more. I'm thrilled to be joining Tom's executive team at this exciting time and I look forward to all that we are going to achieve."

Most recently, Shapiro established APA's in-house business and legal affairs department and oversaw the day-to-day affairs and strategic initiatives for the agency. Prior to joining APA Talent Agency, Shapiro spent three years at OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK as vice president, Business & Legal Affairs, where she established the network's business and legal protocols and systems for the network, and also negotiated deals for their original and licensed programming, as well as acquisition of off-network programming. Prior to joining OWN, Shapiro served as executive vice president, Business & Legal Affairs, at New Line Cinema where she worked closely with the president of New Line to evaluate new business opportunities for the television division.

Shapiro began her career in entertainment law at The William Morris Agency and also spent time at Rysher Entertainment.

About FreeForm Part of the Disney|ABC Television Group, FreeForm connects to audiences and goes beyond entertainment with bold original programming and immersive social engagement. The network delivers a unique mix of quality original and acquired series, plus fan favorite movies and the holiday events "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas." The FreeForm app is a service that allows viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on-demand access via a wide array of devices.

Photo credit: Freeform/Craig Sjodin

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