National Geographic Partners Announces New Legal and Business Affairs Departments and Key Leadership Positions

National Geographic Partners (NGP) today announced that its Business and Legal Affairs division will be divided into two distinct departments- Legal Affairs and Television Business Affairs. Jeff Schneider and Evelyn Miller have been appointed to newly-created leadership roles to oversee these teams. Schneider will serve as the Executive Vice President of Television Business Affairs and Operations, running all day-to-day television business matters and overseeing the newly-formed operations team. Miller has been appointed as Deputy Chief Counsel of National Geographic Partners and will oversee the legal functions for NGP Television, Magazine, and related functions, as well as serve as Secretary to the NGP Board.

In his new role, Schneider will be responsible for all deal-making functions and will act as business liaison to talent agencies and all parties having business with National Geographic Channels. He will also oversee both business and broadcast operations for the global networks, providing operational support to all Channels departments. Miller will be responsible for strategic and tactical legal advice to senior management, legal affairs for the television, rights management, and magazine businesses, and will partner closely with Disney’s legal teams that are supporting NGP’s other businesses. She will also be the main liaison for legal affairs with the National Geographic Society. In addition, she will play a key role in managing board-level topics for the joint venture.

The new team structure and leadership appointments were announced today by Gary Knell, chairman of National Geographic Partners. Miller will report directly to Suzy Wilson, Deputy General Counsel at the Walt Disney Company, as well as to Knell. Schneider will report to Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Global Networks.

“Evelyn and Jeff are extremely talented individuals who have played an integral part in NGP’s success to date and will now be better positioned to help us drive focus around our key priorities in this exciting new phase of our business,” said Knell. “We’re excited about the opportunity to achieve even greater growth under the Walt Disney Company and bring our audiences even more of the great storytelling that inspires them to care for our planet.”

Jeff Schneider most recently served as executive vice president, Business and Legal Affairs, for National Geographic Partners. Prior to this role he held legal and/or business affairs positions at A+E Networks (A+E, History and Lifetime); Endemol-Shine; Fox TV Studios; MTV Networks; NBCUniversal (Bravo, Oxygen, Sprout and Telemundo); and Paramount Pictures. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Law and has taught previously at Carnegie-Mellon University’s School of Management, the University of Southern California School of Law and the Pepperdine School of Law.

Miller joined National Geographic Partners in 2014 as senior vice president, Business and Legal Affairs. In that role, she focused on National Geographic’s digital media, technology and ad sales. From 2002-2004, Evelyn served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in Chicago and received the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award three years in a row from Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer. She continues her pro bono activities as an attorney for unaccompanied immigrant minors through her involvement with Kids in Need of Defense. Evelyn began her career as a corporate attorney in mergers and acquisitions at Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and Mintz Levin P.C. in New York.

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com