Rick Allen(XVIII)
- Producer
Rick Allen has run successful companies in nearly every form of media,
and helped to develop or extend some of the country's most prestigious
brands. Rick is the CEO of SnagFilms which he helped to found with Ted
Leonsis. The two produced Kicking It, which screened at Sundance,
Tribeca and other film festivals and was aired by ESPN; for the film
and their work on homelessness, Leonsis, Allen and colleagues received
the 2009 Stewart B. McKinney Award from the National Law Center on
Homelessness & Poverty. In 2010, Leonsis and Allen produced A Fighting
Chance, which aired on ESPN in November, 2010. In 2013, they produced
Lost for Life, a documentary that will screen in June 2013 at the AFI
Docs festival in Washington, D.C. and the Nantucket Film Festival.
Allen previously was President and CEO of Sporting News, the country's
oldest sports media company, leading a revitalization that saw it named
twice to Adweek's annual "Hot List" as a top-10 media property.
Earlier, he served as President and CEO of the for-profit arm of the
National Geographic Society, responsible for television and film;
interactive products, websites and e-commerce; maps; travel; retail;
catalog; and consumer products. Under his leadership, the National
Geographic Channel was launched and became one of the fastest growing
cable channels in recent history. Before coming to National Geographic,
Rick was a senior executive at Discovery Communications, parent of the
Discovery Channel, where he extended the company's brand into filmed
entertainment, education, technology and retail. He also served in the
White House as a Deputy Assistant to President Clinton, helping to
establish AmeriCorps (the domestic Peace Corps). Before his White House
service, Allen was CEO of a privately-held group of 35 companies based
in Los Angeles. He has written and lectured widely, and been active in
civic affairs particularly dealing with education, including service
with the advisory boards to the California State Board of Education and
the Southern California Association of Governments. He has been a
member of the Dartmouth Alumni Council, serving on its Enrollment and
Admissions Committee, and as an elected member of the Nominating and
Alumni Trustee Search Committee. Rick lives in Potomac, Maryland with
his wife and three sons.