Team

Keri Putnam

Former CEO, Sundance; Harvard AB ’87

Keri Putnam is a producer, strategic advisor to companies and nonprofits, former senior executive and CEO, and public company board director who works at the intersection of the creative and business sides of the media and arts fields. As CEO of Sundance Institute, President of Production at Miramax, and Executive Vice President at HBO, Putnam guided strategy and led global creative and production teams to support, develop, finance, and supervise production on a wide array of highly acclaimed work from new and established talent.

In 2022, Putnam founded a production company, Putnam Pictures, to make television and film projects focused on premium stories from creators with distinct and adventurous vision. She was the ’23-24 Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at Harvard Kennedy KERI PUTNAM FORMER CEO, SUNDANCE School’s Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy, Board Director at AMC Entertainment where she serves on the audit and nominating committees, Board Chair at New_Public, and co-founder of ReFrame which advances women in the screen industries.

Putnam is a consultant or advisory board member to media companies, foundations, arts organizations, and start-ups including Portrait, Picturestart, and First-Look Media, Pivotal Ventures, among others. She is a frequent speaker, an A.D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University, mentor at the USC Stark Producing Program, and advisory council member at Brooklyn College’s Feirstein School of Cinema. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Theater History and Literature.

Related Content

Related Events

See All Events

2026 Goldsmith Awards Ceremony

2026 Goldsmith Awards Ceremony

A celebration of journalism and storytelling that impact public policy and the functioning of government.

Event

JFK Jr. Forum, 79 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge, MA 02138
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Graphic with a dark gray background displaying the text “Goldsmith Awards” in large white letters, with a stylized gold-and-white shape inside the “o.” Below, in smaller gold text, it reads: “HKS | April 9, 2026 | 6pm.”
The Economic Consequences of the Iran War

The Economic Consequences of the Iran War

Join The Journalist’s Resource and EconoFact for an hour-long webinar on the current and potential economic consequences of the current war in Iran.

Event

Zoom Webinar
11:30 AM

an image of oil barrels, illustrating one of the economic consequences of the war in Iran, with the Shorenstein Center and Journalist's Resource logos in a bar at the top
Disagreeing Better in a Polarized World: A conversation with Julia Minson and Todd Rogers

Disagreeing Better in a Polarized World: A conversation with Julia Minson and Todd Rogers

This second event on Julia Minson’s new book, How to Disagree Better, will feature a fireside chat between Minson and fellow Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Todd Rogers exploring depolarization as a growing challenge, the promise of behavioral science approaches, and the difficulties of designing interventions that truly work.

 

Event

HKS campus, Taubman Building, Nye ABC
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

Two people speaking at a Harvard Kennedy School event, one before a U.S. flag and one against a blue backdrop, with Shorenstein Center and BISG logos at the bottom.
Book Talk with Julia Minson (“How to Disagree Better”)

Book Talk with Julia Minson (“How to Disagree Better”)

Join decision scientist and Shorenstein Center resident faculty member Julia Minson for a conversation about her new book, How to Disagree Better, to learn evidence-based techniques on how to transform every disagreement into an opportunity for growth.

Event

Zoom Webinar
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Book cover of How to Disagree Better by Julia Minson beside a headshot of the author smiling in an indoor setting.
Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics with Ken Burns

Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics with Ken Burns

Attend the 2026 Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics with preeminent documentary filmmaker Ken BurnsShorenstein Center Director, Nancy Gibbs, will hold a fireside chat with Burns in the JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School.

Event

JFK Jr. Forum, HKS
6:00 PM

Photo of Ken Burns sitting in a rustic wood paneled space with an american flag in the background.