Juliet Blake is a British-American film, television and web producer. She is Head of Television for

TED Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

. Blake executive produced the TED Talks Live TV series for PBS and produces TED Talks India Nayi Soch a TV series on Star Plus in India produced in Hindi, hosted by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. In June 2018 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Savannah College of Art & Design.

Career

Blake began her career developing successful TV franchises for a variety of networks and production companies in the US and the UK, including the BBC1 series Beast. In 2000, Blake was promoted to executive vice-president and co-head of

Jim Henson Television The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

, where she was responsible for all aspects of the company's worldwide television operations, including global oversight of the

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are ...

franchise. She developed and produced the Muppets' first TV-movie

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie ''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie'' is a 2002 American musical fantasy comedy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher and written by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis. The film premiered November 29, 2002 on NBC and the first film to be m ...

. While working for Henson, Blake oversaw the science-fiction series

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...

, a top-rated show which ran from 1999 to 2003 on the Sci Fi network, joining the show as executive producer in season 3 and working on its final 33 episodes. Blake became senior vice-president of production at the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

in 2006, overseeing the development and production of National Geographic Television, the channel's in-house production company. During her tenure at National Geographic, she oversaw a budget of over $40 million and was responsible for the production of numerous series, including the NGC's multi-Emmy award winning program

Explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, the longest-running documentary series on cable TV, and Border Wars, a critically acclaimed series on illegal immigration that ran for five seasons. Blake produced TED Talks Education (hosted by

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

) for TED and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. She produced The Hundred Foot Journey, a film starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

and

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English, Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

, shot in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and directed by

Lasse Hallstrom Lasse is a common masculine given name in Nordic countries. It is also often a nickname for people named Lars or Lauri. People Notable people named Lasse include: * Lasse Aasland (1926–2001), Norwegian politician *Lasse Åberg (born 1940), Sw ...

with producing partners

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

and

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

. Blake also developed feature films for Arnie Messer and Mike Medavoy's

Phoenix Pictures Phoenix Pictures is an American film production company that has produced films since the late 1990s with features including ''Black Swan'' (2010), ''Shutter Island'' (2010), ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' (1996), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), an ...

, including the thriller Blood Relatives.

Personal life

Blake is married to Mark Shepherd. They live in Austin and have two daughters: Sophie, a web designer for GitHub and Lily, the CEO of The Double Wild Plant Company.

External links

TED Profile
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Juliet American television producers American women television producers American film producers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women