Craig Minassian
{{Short description|American public relations specialist}}
Craig Minassian is the chief communications and marketing officer of the Clinton Foundation as well as a producer and the founder of the PR firm Minassian Media.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/30/playbook-birthday-craig-minassian-422980|title=Birthday of the Day: Craig Minassian, chief comms and marketing officer at the Clinton Foundation and founder of Minassian Media |website=POLITICO|date=30 September 2020 |access-date=2021-04-20}}{{cite web|url=https://www.clintonfoundation.org/about-the-clinton-foundation/leadership#leadership-team/|title=Leadership Team|website=Clinton Foundation|access-date=2021-04-20}} During the presidency of Bill Clinton he served as assistant press secretary and director of television news in the White House.
Career
Minassian graduated from the University of Miami in 1992. Having interned for various entertainment and sporting events during his studies, he joined HBO after college, working on programs such as Comic Relief, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and the organizing committee for World Cup USA 94.
Minassian's work on various campaigns led to his serving as assistant press secretary and director of television news in the White House for President Bill Clinton.{{cite web|url=https://news.miami.edu/stories/2020/10/opinion-presidential-debate-was-incoherent.html|website=news.miami.edu|title=Opinion: Presidential debate was 'incoherent'|access-date=2021-04-20}} Over the years, Minassian worked on the 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign as well as Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and served as a senior advisor to the Democratic National Convention Committees in 2008 and 2012. At the end of Clinton's presidency, he returned to HBO to produce and develop programming and served as festival director of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Minassian joined the Clinton Foundation in 2005, and founded the Minassian Media PR company in 2006.
In 2010, Minassian was one of the organizers of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.{{Cite web |last=Hagey |first=Keach |title=Stewart, Colbert: Dem Oct. surprise? |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/09/stewart-colbert-dem-oct-surprise-042359 |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=POLITICO |date=18 September 2010 |language=en}} Minassian Media produced the live event portion of the event together with Chris Wayne, another veteran of Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign.{{Cite web |date=2010-10-30 |title=Ready for the Rally |url=https://variety.com/2010/voices/opinion/ready-for-the-rally-38505/ |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
Minassian is an executive producer, together with Will Malnati, of Bill Clinton's podcast on iHeartMedia's iHeartPodcast network titled Why am I Telling You This.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2022-02-17 |title=Bill Clinton's Podcast Returns For Second Season With Chat With Jason Isbell About The Challenge Of Convincing Covid Vaccine Deniers |url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/bill-clinton-podcast-jason-isbell-1234935373/ |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}} Clients of his PR firm include the Clinton Global Initiative, Comedy Central's The Daily Show, Bloomberg and the Wikimedia Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Olenick |first=Michael |title=Wikipedia's Deep Ties to Big Tech |url=https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/wikipedias-deep-ties-to-big-tech |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Institute for New Economic Thinking |language=en}}
Personal life
Asked how he got his start in his career, Minassian told Politico: "My mom served in Ralph Bunche’s office at the United Nations and on the support staff for U.N. peacekeeping forces in the Congo. She instilled in me a real interest in the role the U.S., international institutions and the media play in the world. I was also fascinated by comedy that put society through a provocative, honest prism such as 'M*A*S*H.'"
Minassian is married to Shawna Shepherd, a producer on The Daily Show; they had a daughter in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/playbook/2014/08/obamas-clintons-hit-dance-floor-resilient-relationship-obama-exasperated-with-israel-which-sees-us-as-weak-and-naive-combative-call-w-netanyahu-baby-boom-vale-guthrie-feldman-212543|title=Obamas, Clintons hit dance floor: 'resilient relationship' – OBAMA exasperated with Israel, which sees U.S. as weak and naïve: combative call w/ Netanyahu -- Baby Boom: Vale Guthrie Feldman |website=POLITICO|date=14 August 2014 |access-date=2021-04-20}}{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/2021-pga-awards-winners-1234625717/|author=Chris Lindahl|title=PGA Awards 2021: The Complete List of Winners|website=IndieWire|date=25 March 2021|access-date=2021-04-20}}
Further reading
- {{Cite web |last=Howard |first=Billee |title=Ask The CMO: Craig Minassian On Selling 'Good' News With Character-Driven Storytelling |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/billeehoward/2018/07/01/character-driven-storytelling/ |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|4156026}}
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Category:American public relations people
Category:American press secretaries
Category:Clinton administration personnel