Megan Chao oversees the creative and logistical operations for Birman Productions, from pre-production, through production and post-production. She is a showrunner and picture editor.  She also manages the overall corporate strategy for the company.

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Chao joined dbp in 2009 as a researcher on Brace for Impact: The Chesley B. Sullenberger Story, a documentary for TLC and Discovery Channel.  She has since become an award-winning producer and editor, as well as a writer and cinematographer.

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Chao has a master's degree in broadcast journalism from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and dual bachelor's degrees in biology and nonfiction creative writing from the University of California at Riverside.  In her past life, she was a science and health journalist who published with The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

 

She is currently Secretary, Officer of the Board, at the Television Academy, where she is chair of the Bylaws Committee and serves on the Emmy Awards Rules Committee.  She was previously on the Board of Governors representing the Documentary Programming peer group, co-chair of the Activities Committee and a member of the Membership Committee and AI Task Force.  Chao was also on the Board of Directors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), representing Documentary.  She is also a member of the Producers Guild of America, where she serves as one of the co-chairs for the Documentary & Nonfiction Committee.