Steve Rosenbaum

As the founder and CEO of BNNtv and CameraPlanet, Steve Rosenbaum has developed a worldwide reputation as a storyteller with a passion for characters and an eye for unusual action. His award winning television, internet and film projects cover the range from reality based documentary and hard news coverage to narrative fiction. Says Rosenbaum: "As the world becomes more complex - the power of global storytelling becomes more and more important. Regardless of advances in technology or new delivery systems, the success of our work begins and ends with our ability to bring emotional, engaging, dramatic stories down to human scale."

After a career producing and distributing the EMMY award-winning BROADCAST: New York, Rosenbaum's first national hit was at MTV. There he created the groundbreaking series MTV News UNFILTERED. The show empowered viewers, for the first time ever, to call in with their story ideas. Rosenbaum's staffers reviewed approximately 2,500 calls a week and then sent out small video cameras to chosen subjects to film their own compelling stories. Rosenbaum became the recognized pioneer of viewer-generated content. Today the company continues to focus on viewer-generated content at CameraPlanet.com. Recently, BNNtv has produced hours of primetime television for such outlets as A&E, CourtTV, Animal Planet, MSNBC, The History Channel, TLC, BBC, CBS and CNN. Rosenbaum is widely acknowledged as an originator of VideoJournalism, the process where journalists are deeply immersed in the stories they report, using a handheld video camera to capture the pictures.

In 2001 Rosenbaum established CameraPlanet Pictures, a film division that specializes in high-quality digital and independent features for commercial release. CameraPlanet's first feature documentary "Facing Arthur" is currently on the festival circuit. Says Rosenbaum, "CameraPlanet Pictures has a mission to make daring, captivating films that will be both a creative and commercial success." In the months ahead, CameraPlanet Pictures will focus on fictionalized true stories and a limited number of celebrity driven documentary features.

Once again, transforming the boundaries of conventional television, Rosenbaum's BNNtv recently announced the first ever broadcast of war coverage in high definition television. "Powerful HDTV pictures and award winning journalism will bring the audience inside the story in a way traditional TV can't even begin to approach." said Rosenbaum. Pulitzer prize winning journalist, Peter Arnett is reporting from Afghanistan as chief correspondent, heading up a worldwide network of videojournalists in BNNtv's CameraPlanet Correspondents division.

Most recently, utilizing the extraordinary work of the company's videojournalists at Ground Zero Rosenbaum produced 24 hours at Ground Zero for MSNBC, Voices from Ground Zero for TLC and Tales from Ground Zero for Animal Planet. In addition to this definitive coverage the company is creating the most comprehensive archive of footage from September 11th and the aftermath.

Rosenbaum's work been acknowledged for excellence, with a recognition that includes 2 Emmy Awards, 6 New York Festival's World Medals, 4 CINE Golden Eagles and 6 Telly awards. In 1998 Rosenbaum created and funded a video-journalism program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and founded the BNN Scholarship for Columbia University Journalism students. He actively serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Documentary Association and is a member and advisor to the Creative Coalition.