Contact: Mary Dickey, Communications Director, Odyssey Networks, 212-870-1046, mdickey@odysseynetworks.org
NEW YORK, June 21, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- William Spencer Reilly, Executive Vice President, Creative Strategies, Production & Partnerships, of Odyssey Networks, announced today that at the end of June, he will be leaving the multi-faith media organization, where he has served in several senior executive positions since 1999.
"I will miss Odyssey, particularly its deeply committed staff and its member faith groups," said Reilly, "but I'm very excited about several new opportunities that have recently come my way. I feel that the new challenges being offered are too good to pass up. And, they are exactly what I want to be doing at this point in my career."
Reilly will be working with Tremendous! Entertainment and New Dominion Pictures on developing new, mainstream, commercial programming for cable TV and public television, and will also resume his passion for producing live, special events in New York City by developing a major, Easter Week special with the Dutch production company, Eye2Eye Media.
"I'm so looking forward to this new venture and to receiving pitches from other producers and organizations that wish to create programs and special events. I also have a yen to return to my roots in the Broadway theatre, and so, I will be seeking additional projects not only in television, but occasionally from the theatre community as well," Reilly said.
During his twelve years at Odyssey, Bill Reilly won over 30 national television awards. He spearheaded the organization's entrance into the TV movie business by executive producing four highly rated movies for Hallmark Channel. Two of these, "Love Comes Softly" starring Katherine Heigl and "Love's Enduring Promise," starring January Jones, have sold over a million DVDs. Reilly's other major accomplishments include: establishing Odyssey's presence in the international television marketplace with co-productions with the BBC and others; overseeing the programming and production of hundreds of hours on Hallmark Channel, representing a variety of Odyssey's different faith groups; and overseeing all of its award winning, primetime docudramas on diverse luminaries such as CS Lewis, Francis of Assisi, Albert Schweitzer, Joan of Arc, and St. Patrick, as well as the multi award winning drama "Florence Nightingale," which was the BBC's highest rated drama single in the year 2008.
"All of us at Odyssey applaud the many achievements of Bill Reilly," said Nick Stuart, Odyssey's President and CEO. "His boundless energy, vision and creativity helped shape the direction of our television programming. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him every success in his new ventures."
