JOCELYN BRANDEIS - Co-founder
JOCELYN BRANDEIS is a skilled and accomplished communications professional with more than 17 years experience in the entertainment, consumer, new media/technology, advertising, Hispanic and non-profit industries. Ms. Brandeis has secondary expertise in the wedding, travel, food, pet and recreation industries.
Since co-founding JBLH Communications in March 2003, the roster of successful clients have included National Lampoon Comedy House, Doggy Tug, Mandinez.com, Play Clay, Michael Salmon (3rd season contestant on Food Network's "The Next Food TV Star"), The New York/Las Vegas Comedy Expos, The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, The Child Center of NY, Klein Creative Communications, Shani Castri Sensual Cooking Productions, Communications Careers for Latinos, Inc. (CCL), The American Quilt Company, Shelley’s Jewels (a.k.a., Daisy Jane and Angel Designs), and Island Beach Volleyball Association (IBVB). Ms. Brandeis has been primarily responsible for securing interviews and media placement for clients as well as designing and creating full public relations campaigns.
Prior to JBLH Communications, Ms. Brandeis was Director, Corporate Communications of iNEXTV.com, where she was responsible for all consumer and trade PR and Corporate Communications activities for iNEXTV – a web producer, syndicator and aggregator of streaming video programming on the Internet – including garnering publicity for iNEXTV’s "Conversations with Hugh Downs” on Good Morning America as well as a two-page spread about iNEXTV in Cable World. In addition to working with Mr. Downs, Ms. Brandeis also worked with Award-winning actress Tovah Feldshuh (iNEXTV's "Couch Confessions"), actress Shari Belafonte (iNEXTV's "Destinations with Shari Belafonte"), former news personality Mary Alice Williams (iNEXTV's "Pushing The Envelope" and "Amazing Women"), travel expert Peter Greenberg (iNEXTV's "Travel Insider with Peter Greenberg"), fitness guru Radu (iNEXTV's "Simply Fit with Radu"), wine connoisseur and "Wino-saur" Phillip Silverstone (iNEXTV's "The Whole Wine World"), and car expert Ted West (iNEXTV's "Zero to 60 with Ted West").
Before joining iNEXTV, Ms. Brandeis served as Publicist, Trade and Media Relations at Showtime Networks Inc. She was responsible for coordinating Showtime’s publicity efforts for various special projects, events and screenings, assisting in securing consistent placement of Showtime Networks Inc.’s services in national cable and Hollywood trade publications and appropriate business related publications. Other responsibilities include serving as a liaison for corporate initiatives with organizations such as PENCIL (Public Education Needs Civic Involvement In Learning), Cable In The Classroom, Kidsnet, National Cable Television Association (NCTA), Museum of Television & Radio, and others.
Ms. Brandeis joined Showtime Networks Inc. as an Assistant in the Corporate Communications department. Previously, she interned in the publicity department at Tri-Star Pictures, where she assisted in writing press releases, researched materials for critics’ screenings and was involved in a number of special projects for films including “Philadelphia,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” and “Rudy.” Ms. Brandeis began her career as an intern at the public relations firm of Nichols/Feren & Associates.
During her career, Ms. Brandeis has freelanced as a consumer publicist for The History Channel, where she garnered national publicity hits including Extra and A Current Affair for their original program, “Tsunami 2004: Waves of Death.” She has also freelanced as a consumer publicist working on Vegas.com and telecommunications clients; as a publicity consultant for Faraone Communications and Laura Newman PR, where she worked on comedy and theater clients; as a freelance writer and publicist for In The News PR, where she's worked on automotive, toy and technology clients; at Giles Communications as a freelance publicist working on LifeLock.com and Structural Graphics; at Ripp Media as a freelance Account Director for Expedia.com; and at Fleishman-Hillard International Communications in New York City as a consumer marketing publicist, working on clients including Tide, Hasbro, and Neosporin. In addition, she freelanced as a consumer publicist for The Knot, Inc., where she secured multiple broadcast placements for the company’s new wedding dress book, The Knot Book of Wedding Gowns, in the Top 20 local TV markets. Ms. Brandeis also taught as an adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Education in the Department of Culture & Communication, where she was a leader and educator of several Public Relations classes. Ms. Brandeis was also a part-time journalist for the online medical supplies auction website, DOTmed.com, interviewing executives at companies who refurbish and resell medical supplies.
Ms. Brandeis has been extremely active in numerous cable, entertainment and education industry associations. Several times, she was a CTPAA Beacon Awards Committee member and Judge as well as a Judge for the Wasserman Awards for NYU-Tisch School of the Arts’ “First Run Festival” student film festival. In 2006 and 2008, Ms. Brandeis served as a preliminary judge for the Stevie Awards, which are presented for excellence to female-owned businesses. In 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009, she served as a judge for the New York City ThinkQuest Internet Challenge student website competition for public school students. (In 2009, she also served as ThinkQuest NYC's Manager of Fundraising & Development.) She also judged the 3rd Annual Community Spirit Awards for the National Cable Television Association and the 37th Annual IRTS/National Broadcasting Society-Alpha Epsilon Rho National Student (video) Production Competition. From 1995-1999, Ms. Brandeis was a very active member of the New Leadership Committee of the Actors’ Fund of America (non-profit), raising close to $10,000 in one year to "to advance, foster and benefit the welfare of all professionals in the entertainment community who are in need of help, ensuring that these efforts are accomplished with compassion, confidentiality and preservation of dignity for the individuals concerned.”
Ms. Brandeis has garnered various industry awards, including the cable industry’s Gilbert Community Service Award (two years in a row) for the New York City Youth Video Festival as well as Finalist status for the CTPAA’s Beacon Award for the New York City Youth Video Festival. She also received the Meritorious Recognition Award for Social Responsibility from the WEPR Foundation for the New York City Youth Video Festival.
Currently, Ms. Brandeis is a member of My Networking Group (MNG), Savor The Success, LinkedIn, Facebook, FriendFeed, Twitter, Ladies Who Launch, Industry Grind, MyRagan, MediaPost, PROpenMic, Merchant Circle, Creative Hotlist, Young PR Professionals network (YPRP), Small PR Agency Pros, NYC Business Networking Group, and founder of the NYC-based NYCPublicRelationsGroup on Yahoo!.
In addition to working with her clients, Ms. Brandeis also authors PR-based articles for several websites, including TalentZoo.com and O'Dwyer's PR Report, and has been quoted several times in PR News' Best/Worst PR Advice Guidebook and My So-Called Freelance Life.
Ms. Brandeis graduated from New York University with a B.S. in Communication Arts and lives in New York City with her toy poodle.