Since 2008, Pilot has employed a wide range of creative professionals from around the country. The work is hard, but the snacks are free.
MARYBETH BENIVEGNA
Senior Creative Director / Senior Editor
Marybeth, aka mb, has been in the business for over 25 years. She started out at a Top 40 radio station in Miami but when a call went out for anyone interested in wiring a new local TV station she thought ‘why not’? After a quick lesson in crimping wires and learning the dangers of electric shock mb began her career in television.
Marybeth has had the great fortune to work on a multitude of shows, events, commercials, promos, etc. Whether it’s 30 seconds or 30 minutes MB loves the challenge of storytelling. From kid shows, like Bear in the Big Blue House, definitely not kid shows like Celebrity Deathmatch, award winning shows like Breaking Bad to promos and sizzles for clients like AMC, BBC, CBS, TBS, Nick Jr, Travel, MTV, Spotify, and more.
MB lives in Manhattan with her partner and their young, precious gift Victoria, who is currently schooling them on what the teenage years will look like.
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COURTNEY COSENTINO
Executive Creative Director
Courtney began her illustrious television career as a production assistant in VH1’s on-air creative department. She lasted four years before the sight of The Naked Cowboy finally sent her into a dark, downward spiral.
In 2007, she went to work with Louis Venezia at a small startup that would soon be known as Pilot. The two of them shared an office roughly the size of a Smart Car, but actually, it was much smaller.
In the years following, Courtney honed her skills, mastered her craft and ate many, many snacks.
Her current role as Executive Creative Director suits her well as she is very bad at math and science, and very good at telling people what to do.
Courtney is a Scorpio, exhibiting many of the best Scorpio traits like moodiness, jealousy, possessiveness and fierce loyalty. This is why she has been with Pilot for 11 years and is never leaving.
In her free time, she enjoys browsing unaffordable real estate listings and watching MTV’s The Challenge.
Courtney lives in a small Brooklyn apartment with three boys and only one toilet.*
*Sadly, Courtney was forced to leave Brooklyn and now has three toilets in the suburbs.
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MATT NAAS
Senior Mixer
Matt was born and raised in New England, living the majority of his youth in New Hampshire. Entering the automotive industry shortly after high school, he worked hard and found his way to becoming the Acura Parts Manager in Burlington, VT in the late 90s. It was around this time he started to really dig in and experiment with his Tascam 4 track tape recorder, recording such classics as “Snap On Man” and “Penelope” under the pseudonym Johnny Banjo where, sadly, there was no banjo. Disenchanted with the auto industry, he decided that this new love for recording and mixing sounds needed to be more than just a hobby. So he changed careers completely. He headed to Florida in 2002 to attend Full Sail University, where he eventually graduated with a degree in Recording Arts. Moving to NYC in 2004, Matt quickly landed an internship at Nutmeg Audio Post where, after a couple months, he was hired as an Assistant Audio Engineer. It was during this time he met Louis and in 2008 joined Pilot as the Audio Mixer and Sound Designer.
Matt is an aspiring voice over artist and can be heard on many channels. One of his most memorable roles was that of a Chicken Sandwich. His line? “I’m a chicken sandwich.” He nailed it. Matt also had a very short rap career with a friend under the name Nickel & Dime, or known in some smaller circles as Fifteen Cent. This was very short lived and rightfully so…and no, you can’t hear it.
Outside of Pilot, Matt can mostly be found at his home in Brooklyn with his wife Dana and his son Emmett (aka Space Boy). He enjoys binge watching the latest and greatest TV shows as well as watching Seinfeld over and over and over again. He’s most likely watching it right now. Matt loves to play guitar and still records music as Johnny Banjo (still no banjo). Matt enjoys photography. Matt has an unhealthy addiction to M&Ms and graham crackers. Matt likes blue hats.
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BECKY SHOEMAKER
Director Finance & Operations
Becky oversees all areas of finance including: accounts payable and receivable, banking and reconciliations. She prepares financial statements required for relevant analyses of project and company performance. Additionally, Becky directs human resource management, insurance, payroll service, benefit administration, and develops company policies, procedures, and administrative infrastructure.
She takes her job seriously, bringing no-nonsense project management skills to the table. Also frequently on the table is her best friend—a pony-sized bullmastiff mix named Bunny—who likes to climb on her desk to nap while she works. The dulcet tones of Bunny’s snoring are frequently heard in the background of conference calls.
When not competing against her personal record speed for reconciliations, Becky enjoys repairing old boats, exploring trails with her dogs, and completing design projects (including the buildout of Pilot's New York office).
Becky earned an M.Arch from UPenn, and a B.A. in Philosophy from City College, CUNY.
LOUIS VENEZIA
Owner / Chief Creative Officer
Louis is the owner and chief creative officer of Pilot, a media consultancy. Pilot operates in New York and Los Angeles as a branding agency and production company. Entertainment clients include: FX, USA, AMC, TBS, Nick Jr., CMT, Travel Channel, Sundance, Amazon Studios, Food Network, Comedy Central, MTV. Corporate clients include: Instagram, Spotify, JP Morgan Bank, Yahoo Finance, Nielsen.
He also runs CoPilot Pictures, a content and long form production company, where he’s served as an executive producer the feature length documentaries Night School (Tribeca 2016/POV), Frame By Frame (SXSW 2015), The Diplomat (Tribeca 2015/HBO/Emmy Nominated), Mateo (SXSW 2014/Netflix), Maidentrip (SXSW 2013 Audience Award), Our Nixon (SXSW 2013/CNN) and Becoming Santa (SXSW 2011 Audience Award).
Koppenehim & Perlmutter, Louis’s investment company, was a seed investor in Resy, the Broadway musical, Head Over Heels, and Caremob where he is also an advisor.
Before launching Pilot, Louis was the director of on-air creative for VH1, where he helped rebrand the channel in 2003. Louis has also taught screenwriting for the English department at his alma mater, Rutgers University. He lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife Melissa Klein and dog Luna.
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Featured Snack: Cheez It
Tiny squares of cheese goodness. Into my belly, please.
