John Saade
John Saade was named executive vice president, Alternative Series & Late-Night Programming, ABC Entertainment, in June 2011. In this role Mr. Saade oversees all of ABC's primetime alternative/reality series and late-night programming. He reports to Paul Lee, president, ABC Entertainment Group.
Previously Mr. Saade had been senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night, ABC Entertainment, since June 2009. He was instrumental in acquiring, developing and overseeing such hits as "Dancing with the Stars," "Shark Tank," "Wipeout," "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," "Secret Millionaire," "Extreme Makeover" and "The Mole," among many others. He has overseen many high profile specials, including the Oscars, the Emmys, the David Blaine specials and Oprah Winfrey's specials for the network -- "Oprah's Big Give" and "Leadership Academy." In late-night he oversaw the series "Politically Incorrect" and was on the team that launched "Jimmy Kimmel Live," as well as its successful move to 11:35 p.m.
Previously, while at Dakota Films, Mr. Saade produced a wide variety of shows, including "The Best Commercials You've Never Seen," "In Style's Celebrity Weddings," Billy Crystal films that opened the 1999 Academy Awards, and a series of stand-up comedy specials for HBO. He was also coordinating producer on "Mr. Show with Bob and David" and "Tenacious D."
Mr. Saade began his career by working his way up the production ranks as a runner on award shows and as an associate director on "Muppets Tonight," as well as writer, supervising producer or associate director on numerous variety and comedy series and specials.
Mr. Saade is a graduate of Northwestern University.