Harpo Productions Exec Joins OWN

LOS ANGELES: Lisa Erspamer, a 15-year veteran of Harpo Productions, has been named chief creative officer of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. 

Erspamer will partner with the senior team to create, shape and drive programming. She will report to Christina Norman, the CEO of OWN, and will assume her new post in January 2010. Erspamer served as co-executive producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show since 2006. She first joined Harpo Productions in 1994 as associate producer. 

"Lisa has been a creative superstar," said Oprah Winfrey, the chairman of OWN. "She’s brought fire and force to many of the incredible shows we’ve done over the years. I value her passion and sensibilities and trust her instincts and judgment. I know she’ll be a great fit with the OWN team."

"This is an injection of Oprah’s DNA into OWN," added Norman. "Lisa’s years of experience in crafting content for The Oprah Winfrey Show will be invaluable to us as we build this new multiplatform media venture."

"What we’ve created with the Oprah show only gets better when it’s 24/7," commented Erspamer. "I’m thrilled to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help bring Oprah’s vision for the network to life."