2017 STARS Hall of Fame

Channing Dungey

ABC Entertainment President

Rio Americano High School

Channing Dungey is the President at ABC Television Network since February 17, 2016. She has been President of ABC Primetime Entertainment since February 17, 2016. Ms. Dungey served as Senior Vice President of Drama at ABC Primetime Entertainment since June 2009. She served as Senior Vice President of Drama Development at Touchstone Television Productions, LLC (formerly ABC Television Studio) and also served as its Vice President of Drama Series.

Ms. Dungey was responsible for the development and acquisition of drama programming for the studio, which created international hit franchises "Lost," "Desperate Housewives", and "Grey's Anatomy." As Head of the Drama Development Department, Ms. Dungey oversaw a team of creative executives who identify, cultivate, and develop drama programming for network broadcast and cable exhibition. Her slate of programming included the award-winning sensation "Ugly Betty," the compelling, critically-acclaimed family saga "Brothers & Sisters," "Private Practice," the CW's "Reaper," CBS dramas "Criminal Minds", and Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Ghost Whisperer," and Lifetime's highest rated series, "Army Wives."

Ms. Dungey began her successful career in entertainment as a development assistant for Davis Entertainment at 20th Century Fox. She then became story editor at Steamroller Productions, Steven Seagal's Warner Bros-based company Eager for new challenges, Ms. Dungey left the executive suite in the spring of 1998 to become senior vice president at Material, a film production company with a first look deal at Warner Bros., which was responsible for 2000's "Red Planet," starring Val Kilmer, as well as 2002's remake of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," starring Guy Pearce.

After being named president in 2001, Ms. Dungey co-produced two films that were released in the spring of 2002: "Queen of the Damned," adapted from the best-selling novel by Anne Rice, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah, and "Showtime," starring Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy, and Rene Russo. The third film she co-produced, "The Big Bounce," based on an Elmore Leonard novel, was directed by George Armitage and starred Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman. In January 2003, Ms. Dungey partnered with Pamela Post, a producer formerly with Team Todd, and formed Dexterity Pictures. The production partnership was focused on making both studio and independent films, as well as developing television series.

In the summer of 2004, a TV pitch meeting Ms. Dungey took with an ABC executive resulted in an offer to join the drama team at ABC Studios, then known as Touchstone Television.

She is a founding member of the Step Up Women's Network, a national non-profit membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. She also teaches a graduate level course on Developing the Drama Pilot at UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. Ms. Dungey is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of UCLA with a B.A. in Theater, Film, and Television.