truTV Announces New Leadership Roles for Marissa Ronca and Michael Lanzillotta

Ronca Named Senior Vice President, Development & Original Programming; Lanzillotta Named Senior Vice President, General Manager

truTV has promoted two of its executives as part of a restructure of the network's leadership team under Chris Linn, truTV's new president, head of programming. Marissa Ronca has been promoted to senior vice president of development & original programming, heading up a newly combined team that covers original programming from development through production. Michael Lanzillotta has been elevated to senior vice president, general manager of truTV, providing business expertise to the direction and development of the network. Lanzillotta and Ronca are both based in New York and report to Linn.

RoncaMarissa Ronca joined Court TV in 2007 and was a key player in the network's transformation into truTV in 2008. As vice president of program development, she headed up the development team responsible for bringing such hit shows as Hardcore Pawn, Impractical Jokers, South Beach Tow and Guinness World Records(R) Unleashed to truTV.

"Marissa has led a diverse slate of development projects and has ensured that truTV is a producer's first place of business," Linn said. "By combining the development and original programming departments into one group under Marissa's expert leadership, truTV will be more effective than ever at fielding and responding to pitches, developing new ideas and managing projects from concept to series."

Before coming to truTV, Ronca was director of development at TLC and Discovery Home Channel, where she was responsible for cultivating the successful series Little People, Big World, LA Ink and Say Yes to the Dress. Ronca began her career with Discovery Communications Inc., working in production and development for Discovery Onboard/VOD and Discovery Networks International. In 2005, Ronca left Discovery and joined Brainbox Productions, an independent production company where she developed, wrote and produced original programming for such networks as HGTV, Style, Discovery and Court TV.

Ronca's film work includes executive-producing the feature Crazy Sexy Cancer and producing the 2006 independent scripted feature The Guatemalan Handshake. Ronca is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.

LanzillottaMichael Lanzillotta came to Turner Broadcasting in 2007 to prepare the business side of Court TV for its transformation into truTV. He most recently served as senior vice president of business affairs for truTV and international distribution for Turner Entertainment Networks (TEN), which includes truTV, TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), as well as for certain CNN series.

In his business affairs role, Michael has successfully led all production and talent contract negotiations for truTV's slate of original programming. As senior vice president of TEN's distribution arm, he has overseen the development and implementation of the division's international distribution strategy. He has also supervised all international distribution matters for TEN, with an eye toward maximizing revenue potential for content owned or controlled by the entertainment networks. In addition, Lanzillotta has served as liaison with Turner's international networks, coordinating efforts on potential partnerships.

"Michael will work closely with me and interface with sales, distribution and finance in order to maximize opportunities and effectively monetize our content," Linn said, "With his extensive industry relationships, distribution experience and business expertise, Michael is the ideal leader for this crucial role."

Lanzillotta holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and is a member of the New York State Bar. He was named by Multichannel News as one of the "40 Under 40" highest-performing executives in the industry.