RHI Sets Up Shop in L.A.

NEW YORK: In a bid to strengthen its ties with the Hollywood creative community and expand into the TV-series production business, RHI Entertainment has opened a programming office in Los Angeles, to be led by Tom Patricia and Elizabeth Stephen.

Tom Patricia, the executive VP of movies and mini-series, and Elizabeth Stephen, executive VP of series, will be responsible for production and development as well as co-financing opportunities, working closely with RHI’s New York creative team, including company founder and head creative executive, Robert Halmi, Sr., and senior VP of development, Lynn Holst.

“While RHI has always had a high profile in Hollywood, this new programming arm will enable us to ramp up our West Coast development and production efforts even further,” said Robert Halmi Jr., the president and CEO of RHI. “Tom and Elizabeth are extremely talented executives who have the key relationships and know how to get projects greenlit and produced. They will have an immediate and far reaching impact on RHI’s creative output.”

Patricia is an Emmy-nominated producer whose credits include Homeless to Harvard for Lifetime Television and the mini-series The Gathering. He served as senior VP for Michael Ovitz’s Artists Television Group, where he was head of the television movie and mini-series department. He also headed up TV movies and mini-series at Mandalay Entertainment. Stephen most recently was president of Mandalay Television, and served as executive producer of the Showtime series Brotherhood.