Entrepreneurs have a different perspective on life.
“I started small companies when I was a kid without realizing the path I was starting to take,” said Laura Palumbo Johnson, co-founder and executive producer at Magilla Entertainment LLC. “I feel that I have a creative side to me and a business side to me. And that seems to be what naturally led me to here.”
Where’s here, besides solidifying her status as a Wonder Woman? It’s successfully running Magilla Entertainment, along with Matthew Ostrom, co-founder and executive producer. Together they built the company — and the unscripted television genre — from the ground up over 15 years. It’s the perfect path for someone who ran a babysitting business as an 11-year-old, employing her friends.
Magilla’s portfolio features powerhouse franchises such as TLC’s Long Island Medium, Discovery’s Moonshiners and HGTV’s Beachfront Bargain Hunt.
I feel that I have a creative side to me and a business side to me. And that seems to be what naturally led me to here.”
Laura Palumbo Johnson
Prior to founding Magilla, Palumbo Johnson worked for City Lights Television, a startup unscripted production company in New York. She launched their production management and gained an understanding of how a company grows and evolves to a much different size. Here, she worked on HGTV’s Don’t Sweat It and the creation of Food Network’s Chopped.
After Chopped became a hit, she transitioned to international sales and was “traveling around the globe, going to MIPCOM and seeing that side of the business,” she said. “It opened my eyes to another world, the bigger world of television, and I really loved it.”
Meanwhile, Ostrom was a VP at then-production company Original Media. He developed and produced the hit series Swamp People, Dual Survival and LA Ink.
“At the time, we had conversations about going out on our own because the synergies were there,” Palumbo Johnson said. “And then talent was recommended to us, so we hit the ground running.”
Or more accurately, they took a quick ride over the bridge to New Jersey. “We went to New Jersey together with a camera,” she said. “In a matter of weeks, we pitched [Oxygen series] Jersey Couture and sold it.”
That marked the official start of Magilla Entertainment.
“We both understood development intuitively,” Palumbo Johnson said. “We knew that was the root of the company. We had one show up and running and we immediately went into developing other shows. We were pitching as much as we could and that led to an opportunity with Discovery.”
That opportunity was Moonshiners. Having two series “gave the people we were pitching to the confidence that we can pivot and that we were capable,” she said.
By the end of its first year in business, Magilla was developing what turned out to be Long Island Medium. More than a decade later, these franchises are what Palumbo Johnson called reliable IP. She noted that content fatigue has set it for many viewers and it’s why they return to the classics of unscripted TV.
Lead by Assisting Others
There are certain people who are natural-born leaders. “Laura is the ultimate powerhouse,” Ostrom said. “She’s charming, nice, but also a badass. She has a great business mind, is extremely creative and a born leader.
“Laura is building the infrastructure around us,” he continued. “She is the nuts and bolts of the company and makes sure the lights stay on. Magilla is so much stronger because of her.”
Palumbo Johnson makes it a point to mentor as well as contribute to industry organizations. She’s a member of New York Women in Film & Television; is on the executive committee of NPACT, the trade association for nonfiction TV producers; and has participated in the Propelle accelerator program. Administered by Realscreen in partnership with Everywoman Studios, Propelle helps develop the careers of up-and-coming female creators.
Creators gain access to an established production company and a network of industry contacts, while learning how to develop ideas so they are pitch-ready and saleable.
“I’m working with one specific mentee,” Palumbo Johnson said. “We brought her ideas through to a pitchable phase. I worked with her on what we thought could be a saleable concept.”
Palumbo Johnson, wife and mom to two middle schoolers, noted that television is a tough industry. Oftentimes someone has great ideas and great talent but they don’t know where to go with it. Luckily, she is there to assist.
