Deadline’s Reality TV Summit: More Top Names Added

Deadline’s Reality TV Summit is launching tomorrow with the best and brightest in the unscripted television industry.

The full lineup has been set with Andy Cohen kicking things off with a keynote Q&A. See the full lineup below, which includes executives from all the major streamers, broadcasters and cable networks as well as top-tier talent and producers.

Stephen Colletti, one of the stars of Laguna Beach: Orange County, who recently starred in and exec produced Roku’s The Reunion: Laguna Beach, will be joining the lineup alongside the streamer’s head of originals Brian Tannenbaum, while Cori Abraham, SVP, Unscripted Content at Versant, which operates cable networks including USA, E!, Syfy and Oxygen, has also been added to the bill.

Event Date and Time:
Friday, May 1 2026
12:30pm Doors Open
1:00pm Panels Begin
4:15pm Panels Conclude, Reception Begins

If you have RSVPed, your name will be on the door, we suggest getting to the event as close to doors as possible to guarantee a seat. Unfortunately, the RSVP list is now closed but there is waitlist.

Location:
Lumen West LA, 3rd Floor Events Deck
11355 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064

The curated audience will consist of industry professionals and FYC voters across the TV Academy and guilds. The idea is to bring together the best and the brightest in the business to discuss the future of the unscripted sector.

Cohen’s keynote comes as The Real Housewives franchise he executive produces celebrates its 20th anniversary. The unscripted franchise, arguably one of the most successful of all time, has had around a dozen U.S. iterations, a plethora of international versions and more than 30 spinoffs.

The Emmy winner will discuss RH‘s most recent launch, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, which premiered earlier this month; the business of the enduring franchise; the success of Watch What Happens Live!, his late-night show that is the go-to-destination for reality stars and other A-listers such as Jon Hamm discussing the latest Summer House drama; as well as his other ventures such as Radio Andy.

He will be joined in the lineup by the leading executives from streamers at Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Peacock; broadcast networks including ABC, CBS, Fox and The CW; plus cable groups including A+E Global Media and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Executives include Jeff Gaspin, VP, Unscripted at Netflix; Amazon’s Head of Unscripted and Documentary Television Jenn Levy; Rob Mills, EVP, Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment at Walt Disney Television; Mitch Graham, EVP, Alternative Programming at CBS; Rachel Smith, EVP, Unscripted Content, Bravo and Peacock and Allison Wallach, Head of Unscripted Programming at Fox Entertainment Studios.

Others to be featured are Jason Sarlanis, President of TNT, TBS, TruTV, ID & HLN, Linear and Streaming at Warner Bros. Discovery; Heather Olander, Head of Unscripted Programming at The CW, Eli Lehrer, EVP and Head of Programming at The History Channel and Cori Abraham, SVP, Development, Unscripted Content at Versant.

There will also be stars from top shows including Joel McHale, who hosts Fox game show The 1% Club; Jay Pharoah, host of Fox’s The Quiz With Balls; Kristen Kish, who hosts Bravo’s Top Chef, and Stephen Colletti, star of Roku’s The Reunion: Laguna Beach.

Producers behind some of the biggest unscripted series on television and streaming will also join to discuss the highs and lows of making reality shows.

Among the panels will be a focus on “How to Have a Hit Reality Series,” with Alex Baskin, who runs Vanderpump Rules producer 32 Flavors; Jeff Jenkins, president of Jeff Jenkins Productions, the company behind Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives; Carlos King, founder of Kingdom Reign Entertainment, which is behind the Love & Marriage franchise; Julie Pizzi, president and CEO of Bunim/Murray Productions, which makes Below Deck and Vanderpump Villa; and Steven Weinstock, co-president and CEO of Summer House producer Truly Original.

Looking at the state of dating shows, the panel “Love on Television” will feature David Eilenberg, creative director of Love Island USA producer ITV America, Jazzy Collins, founder of Forced Perspective, who has cast shows including The Bachelor; Jennifer O’Connell, co-founder and co-CEO of Velvet Hammer Media, which is behind Netflix’s Age of Attraction; and SallyAnn Salsano, founder of Jersey Shore producer 495 Productions, which is behind Fox’s The Snake.

For more details click here.