Free To Choose Network Announces New President and CEO


ERIE, PA--(Marketwired - September 30, 2016) - Free To Choose Network (FTCN), a global entertainment company, today announced that Joe Reinkemeyer has been appointed by the Board of Directors as the new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 1. Reinkemeyer will replace Bob Chitester, Founder and Chairman of the Board, who will be stepping aside as President and CEO.

"I ignited and carried the company torch for more than 30 years," said Chitester, who will continue as Chairman and will work on specific projects already in development. "Joe's professional experience and dedication to creating powerful programs that inspire, illumine and offer fresh perspectives make him the obvious choice to continue the legacy for the next 30 years."

Reinkemeyer brings more than two decades of Hollywood experience -- writing, producing and show-running -- to FTCN, as well as his experience as award-winning short filmmaker, attorney, entrepreneur and educator. He honed his screenwriting skills on the writing staffs of L.A. Law, Law & Order, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, three of the "101 Best Written TV Series" of all time, according to Writers Guild of America. Reinkemeyer earned 42 produced writing credits, as well as staff, producer, showrunner or "Created by" participation, in more than 230 hours of television.

In 2014, he wrote and Executive Produced economic short films for SilverPepper Funds, which competed at the prestigious Financial Communications Society Portfolio Awards against the budgets and talents of the largest financial companies of Wall Street and top advertising agencies of Madison Avenue. The short films won the gold award, beating out the worldwide Olympics sponsor, VISA.

Reinkemeyer returns to the U.S. to become President and CEO, after serving in Germany as Senior Lecturer, Screenwriting, at Met Film School Berlin, and as Professor of Serial Storytelling at the international film school.

"Free To Choose Network, through Bob Chitester's cultivation and leadership, offers multiple platforms for a wide range of storytelling, education and entertainment, and the opportunity ahead is enormous," said Reinkemeyer. "I am honored to have been selected to work with such a dedicated, professional staff and fill, what I consider to be, some very big shoes."

Reinkemeyer received his A.B. from Dartmouth College, his J.D. (Juris Doctor) from Columbia Law School, and was a Fulbright Scholar.

FTCN also announced that Chitester will continue as Chairman of the Board and continue to work on several current FTCN projects, including a TV biography of Tom Sowell, expansion of the Dead Wrong series, a program and book on the Swedish economic model and the launch of the summer home of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman as a center for advancing his public policy ideas.

About Free To Choose Network

Free To Choose Network is a 501(c)(3) global entertainment company which produces thought-provoking documentaries, offering diverse voices, powerful stories and a fresh perspective on a range of important global and national issues through its production company, Free To Choose Media. For more than 30 years, the Free To Choose production teams have traveled the world to explore topics such as the economic roots of the Arab Spring and the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs raising themselves and their communities out of poverty, as well as revealing how innovation and new technologies may be the answer to the world's growing energy needs. For more information, visit the website, at www.FreeToChooseNetwork.org. In addition to producing stimulating documentaries, FTCN also reaches out to the next generation with its educational site, www.izzit.org, offering classroom teachers and their students, educational teaching units encouraging critical thinking about civics, entrepreneurship, political economy, the sciences and more.

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Contact Information:

MEDIA CONTACT:
Marjory Hawkins
Director of Marketing & PR
Free To Choose Network
Mh7@freetochoosenetwork.org
512-940-2828

Joe Reinkemeyer, new President & CEO of Free To Choose Network