Idol Critic is a the proud creation of Exploding Video Productions.
Liza Persky was born and raised in Los Angeles and knew from a very young age that TV and pop culture were going to play a big role in her life. Before Paris and Nicole were shopping at Kitson, Liza was spending her days trying to accomplish her life’s goal: To meet all six of “Charlie’s Angels.” Once that was done nothing could stop her. After graduating from Emerson College in Boston, Liza set her sites on New York City. Her first job was as the assistant to the head of development at Comedy Central, where she learned the first, and most important rule of television: It’s all about the food. After two years of mastering the art of ordering lunch for 10 cranky writers, she left and started her career as a talk-show producer: first at VH1, producing celebrities and writing comedy desk pieces and sketches for RuPaul, and then going big time as a senior producer for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.” There she won four Emmys and the privilege of saying things like, “How am I going to get David Hasselhoff to do the Twinkie eating contest,” with absolutely no irony. From there she went on to produce for other shows, including: “The Ricki Lake Show,” “The Wayne Brady Show,” “Living it up with Ali and Jack,” and “The Tony Danza Show.” She’s currently developing several television and broadband projects, all with a pop-culture and entertainment edge. She also watches about 10 hours of TV a day, which is probably why she’s still single.
Mary C. Matthews is a writer/producer/editor with a background in comedy writing for television and the web. She has written & produced for Buena Vista Television, American Movie Classics, FUSE and maintains original online series 39 Second Single, Sunday Night Dinners and Video Pancakes. With producing partner, Liza Persky, Mary launched Pound Productions for the development and production of original programming for television and the web.
Jeff Jarvis is the studio mogul behind Exploding Video Productions, which so far has two shows: Idol Critic and PrezVid, tracking the 2008 election through the eyes of YouTube. He blogs at Buzzmachine.com and is a columnist for Media Guardian. He was creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly, TV critic for TV Guide and People.
Peter Hauck, former movie editor of Entertainment Weekly and senior vice president of Advance Internet, is the president of Exploding Video.
