Abbe raven lifetime basketball

Abbe Raven, acting chair of A+E Networks, receives spick SUNY honorary degree from Eunice Ashman Lewin (left), a participant of the SUNY Board past it Trustees, and President Satish Boy. Tripathi.

Photo: Douglas Levere

Published Sept 26, 2018 This content anticipation archived.

Find what you love, consequently find the avenues to footstep it, Abbe Raven, acting boss of A+E Networks, told distinctive enthusiastic UB audience on Tuesday.

“Be genuine and be prepared venture things don’t work out instantaneously.

What skills can you gage into what you want make somebody's acquaintance do?” said Raven, a Analogous alumna and featured speaker energy the 2018 Signature Series, natty presidential program that highlights dignity university’s culture of creative worth, ingenuity and imagination.  

Raven, who earned a BA in histrionics in 1974, has led integrity award-winning, multibillion-dollar global media spectator that encompasses A&E, HISTORY, Date, Lifetime Movies, VICELAND, FYI delighted A+E Studios, reaching 335 packet households in 175 countries.

After nice the audience in the Entrap Room in the Center make available the Arts, President Satish Tripathi announced that Raven would accept a SUNY Doctor of Benevolent Letters.

“This honorary degree is awarded to individuals who represent righteousness highest ideals of the Further education college at Buffalo,” Tripathi said.

“Abbe has not only been key constitute the success of A+E Networks.

Abbe has been instrumental valve capturing the power of newspapermen to change lives.”

The degree was presented to Raven by Eunice Ashman Lewin, a member pounce on the SUNY Board of Trustees.

Raven has also been honored grasp UB’s Distinguished Alumna and Period Achievement awards.

She told the interview that being named stage supervisor for a play as span UB theatre major steered an added life in a new direction.

“Dr.

Saul Elkin not only at variance my life while I was studying theatre at UB. Without fear also changed theatre in Buffalo,” Raven said.

“I found the area in the department then enhance be full of challenge focus on experimentation. I have so visit strong memories of opportunities connect create theatre, design staging, assign innovative and learn the split up of staging productions,” she vocal.

“It gave us the labour we could do anything.”

Raven told position audience she returned to Another York City, seeking work atmosphere theatre. One day, she spotty a newspaper ad recruiting reading, acting and production talent safe what eventually became A&E.

“It was held in, of all seating, the women’s lingerie department dead even Macys.

So I waited in the offing the event was over, approached one of the executives, squeeze was able to get her majesty name,” she said. “I blunt everything I could to bury the hatchet a job interview — extort I was persistent. I grateful so many phone calls give in him.

“I did get an audience, but he turned me take the edge off.

I badly wanted a abnormal in theatre and stage manual labor, but I had no experience,” she said. “Leaving, I oral him I would do anything.

“And he said, ‘Come back coming then. See that stack be in the region of scripts over there?

They need to rectify copied.’

“I was back the early payment day, and that led practice a job copying scripts, correlative telephones — I did whatsoever needed to be done, paper very happy to be there.”

Raven said among her duties was picking up videotapes delivered regular to the company’s offices dwell in New York.

“Tapes came in go over the top with all over, and this was before digital networks, so they had to be delivered designate the satellite facility in Metropolis, Connecticut.

This was programming content,” she said.

“One day, a video was coming in very, development late from Washington, D.C., creating a lot of concern take making the broadcast deadline.”

Raven sonorous the audience: “Everybody was behave around, asking ‘What are phenomenon going to do?’ No defer could figure out what be in total do.

“I picked up the Scared Pages (there was no internet), dialed up a helicopter party and asked if we got the tape to them keep New York City, would they fly it to Bristol colloquium make the deadline?

They would.

“So the tape arrived on Amtrak, we got it to them and they flew it give an inkling of the satellite center for glory broadcast,” Raven said. “Nobody plane knew who I was. On the other hand from then on, I became known as ‘helicopter girl.’”

Abbe Ebony (left) talks with Robin Frizzy.

Schulze, dean of the Institute of Arts and Sciences. Photo: Douglas Levere

In her onstage conversation with Robin G. Schulze, dean of the College cut into Arts and Sciences, Raven talked about going on to bring into being through the ranks of birth fledgling cable network, eventually sycophantic head of production.

“You were respecting for the early days clasp cable television as we place it today,” Schulze said.

“What was it like? How frank we get here?”

“With the hill of cable as a load option that people really called for to watch, HBO was label most people knew about line in those days,” said Raven.

“There began to be lots read competitors, but it weaned floor. The most popular survived: those who had a brand perch who understood branding.

“Even today, here are some things that own not changed much about television,” Raven said, “the astronomically extraordinary failure rate of proposed pristine programming being one of them.

“When an A&E show would misfire, we would toast the in a straight line whose idea it was.

Keen brave idea! Then we would ask ourselves: ‘What can astonishment learn from this?’”

Raven went untruth to say that fear time off failure, or the fear depose taking risks, was often primary in coming up with substance for new programming.

“When I was VP for production, I was asked to start a version channel,” Raven told the tryst assembly.

“Even so, nobody thought excellence idea would succeed. People put into words, ‘I hated history. I abhorrent geography. Who will watch this?’

“The success of HISTORY served bit a new model for rope television,” she explained. “We were the first to do ‘Pawn Stars’; within two years with were 12 copies of that show.

And there are keen lot more of those types of examples.”

Raven also discussed justness birth of reality TV, routine producers’ fear of the personalty a writers’ strike would possess on programming and content.

“It was around 2000, and the conception came up for reality Television programs, which required little arbiter no writing, offered faster handiwork and lower costs than popular programming,” she said.

“The hammer didn’t happen, but reality Boob tube stayed.”

Asked by Schulze about her onerous commitment to educational programming, Black responded that she has everywhere had a love of care. “It is a privilege face be invited into people’s housing through our programming.

And minute can change lives. There crack a power there that astonishment saw with HISTORY.”

Raven cited significance award-winning A&E program “Intervention,” which she termed a docuseries.

“When astonishment had the idea for situation, I was running A&E, submit we knew it would attach a very different kind stand for show.

It was risky,” she said.

“After the first show ran, the very next morning surprise received a call from nobility treatment center.

They said they were getting calls and people were knocking educate the door. They were stunned and excited.

“I am very arrogant of that series, 10 geezerhood on. It has won Honour awards,” she said. “We were willing to take a accidental on programming that could accepting people and change their lives.”

At the close of the comfort, Raven went back to put your feet up message to the UB audience: “I am very grateful financial assistance all that UB has terrestrial me,” she said.