44 Blue Productions is an award-winning supplier of non-fiction, reality, lifestyle and action-adventure programming. Founded by Rasha and Stephanie Drachkovitch in 1984, 44 Blue creates more than 150 hours of entertainment every year and has more than 1000 hours of programming to its credit. 44 Blue shows have aired on more than a dozen domestic television networks and in more than 120 countries around the world.

Known for gaining unique access and telling the stories of ordinary people in extreme conditions, 44 Blue continues to break new ground with its nonfiction series. In 2012, besides its long-running LOCKUP franchise for MSNBC and fourth season of award-winning PIT BULLS & PAROLEES, the company launched five new series: FIRST WEEK IN for Discovery, HOUSE OF CONSIGMENT for VH-1, SWANDEROSA for CMT, MARRIED TO THE ARMY: ALASKA for OWN and KILLER KIDS for BIO. 44 Blue's development slate includes projects for History, A&E, Style, MTV, Animal Planet, Fuel, Discovery, Discovery ID and National Geographic. The company also works with high-profile partners who are bringing their unique brand to non-fiction, most recently Mark Wahlberg, Dick Wolf, Donald Trump and Rob Lowe.

Capturing the drama in perilous circumstances is what 44 Blue does best. The company is well known for gaining access to the most dangerous prisons in the world for MSNBC's hit series LOCKUP and its spinoff series LOCKUP: RAW, LOCKUP: WORLD TOUR and the latest spin-off, LIFE AFTER LOCKUP. 44 Blue was also the first production company to gain access to embed in the lives of real Army wives for MARRIED TO THE ARMY: ALASKA on OWN. 44 Blue Productions is also a leader in lifestyle docu-formats, with the Emmy Award-nominated origiinal formats SPLIT ENDS and PETER PERFECT for the Style Network. The company has won Peabody and Emmy Awards for A PLACE OF OUR OWN and its Spanish-language sister series, LOS NINOS EN SU CASA, on PBS, and its nationally syndicated series FAMILY COURT WITH JUDGE PENNY picked up an Emmy nomination for Best Court Show in its first season.

The breadth of 44 Blue programming is mirrored by the broad group of networks which have commissioned series from the company. That list includes A&E, Animal Planet, Bio, CBS, CMT, Discovery Channel, ESPN, HBO, History Channel, Lifetime, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, OWN, PBS, Spike TV, Style Channel, TLC, truTV and VH1. 44 Blue Productions has won numerous awards and honors for its programming, is represented by William Morris Endeavor, and is based in Studio City, California.

STEPHANIE DRACHKOVITCH

Stephanie Drachkovitch is the leading force behind 44 Blue's lifestyle reality programming. In addition to attracting high-profile talent like Rob Lowe, Randy Jackson and Donald Trump to 44 Blue's development slate, Drachkovitch has been responsible for Style's Emmy-nominated series "Peter Perfect" and "Split Ends." She also led 44 Blue into the competitive daytime syndication marketplace with the 2008 launch of Emmy-nominated "Family Court with Judge Penny." Her depth of experience extends into educational programming with the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series "A Place of Our Own" and its Spanish-language counterpart, "Los Ninos en su Casa." Both versions air on PBS, making them the first programs to be simultaneously produced in both English and Spanish for a broadcast network. She is currently overseeing series or pilots for VH-1, OWN, CMT and Style, and is the first producer to gain access from The Pentagon to follow the lives of real-life “Army Wives” for a docuseries.   Between stints at 44 Blue, Drachkovitch worked as a studio development and programming executive, primarily focused in the first-run syndication arena with an emphasis on the alternative and reality genres. She was also one of the first studio executives to travel to Europe to secure international formats and bring them back to the United States. As Senior Vice President of Development for Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros.' syndicated programming division, she contributed to the company's expansion into primetime and cable programming. She was directly involved in the development of numerous successful series, including the long-running ABC prime-time mega-hit "The Bachelor." Earlier in her career, Drachkovitch was Senior Vice President of Development and Programming for Disney's Buena Vista Television unit, where she helped launch the highly successful long-running series "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Drachkovitch previously served as Executive Vice President for Pearson Television (now known as Fremantle Television) helping to shape the London based company's foray into the U.S. television market with game show, reality, comedy and drama series. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Programming for Group W Productions, and Director, Development, Buena Vista Television.  Drachkovitch began her career in television working as a talk show and live events producer in Portland, Philadelphia and San Francisco. After moving to Los Angeles in 1984, she and her husband Rasha co-founded 44 Blue Productions and produced their first series, the nationally syndicated "Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports." Drachkovitch is a graduate of the University of Oregon in Eugene, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism.

STUART ZWAGIL

Stuart Zwagil serves as Senior Vice President for 44 Blue Productions and joined the company in 2000 as Executive in Charge of Production. While providing production oversight on 44 Blue's series, he also manages the daily operations of the company that include Business Affairs, Finance and Human Resources. He has nearly 20 years of experience in all aspects of television production, including finance, budgeting, and cost analysis, as well as vendor negotiations, insurance issues and union contracts. He has played an instrumental role in creating innovative production models for both studio-based shows like the Emmy-nominated syndicated strip FAMILY COURT WITH JUDGE PENNY, for which 130 episodes were produced, and Spike's number-one rated series DEADLIEST WARRIOR, which incorporates studio and field elements, recreations and historically accurate period weapons and wardrobe manufacturing. Prior to joining 44 Blue, Zwagil was a freelance Line Producer as well as West Coast Production Supervisor for MTV Networks/Nickelodeon, working on high profile projects such as The Kids Choice Awards, Big Help-A-Thon, and Snick House. He started his career in New York at the advertising agency Fox Pavlika & Partners, Inc. He moved into production serving as Production Manager for Comedy Central before making his move to Hollywood. He is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and is a graduate of the University of Baltimore.

SARAH POAGE

Sarah Poage is the Vice President of Production. Her primary responsibility is to ensure that all of 44 Blue's productions are running smoothly, on time and on budget. She works closely with each production team to find creative ways to produce high quality shows while working within the confines of budgets both big and small. She also works extensively with the development team to budget and structure new projects. Sarah started at 44 Blue in 2002 as a Line Producer, working on as many as 4 shows at one time. In 2006 she was asked to join the corporate staff as the Executive in Charge of Production for all of the company's shows and in 2010 was promoted to her current position.  In 8 years at 44 Blue she has worked on over 500 hours of programming. Prior to working at 44 Blue, Sarah worked on a variety of projects ranging from interstitials to 8 hour live tv events. She worked for a number of production companies and networks including NBC, Fox and Nickelodeon.

DAVID HALE

As Vice President of Programming, David Hale has been writing, producing, and directing award-winning documentary programming for over 10 years with 44 Blue. Beginning as an associate producer on A&E's Investigative Reports, he soon began field producing for the series. The experience took him around the world, as he rode shotgun with the federal agencies like the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the U.S. Border Patrol, profiled the lives of rookie cadets at an unrelenting military college, and chronicled the fate of a Texas high school football team over the course of an entire season. Over the years, David has gone behind the walls of maximum security prisons to interview death row inmates for MSNBC's Lockup, tracked leopards across the African savannah for Fine Living's Safari Style, and delved into the world of the Montana Militia and Hell's Angels for the Travel Channel's The World's Most Dangerous Places. Succeeding in a variety of cable formats, David has been responsible for supervising series as diverse as HGTV's Collector Inspector and Court TV's Inside, and led Discovery Kids' Truth or Scare to an Emmy nomination. Most recently, he has overseen production for the new series Survive This! for the Discovery Channel, and Lockup: RAW for MSNBC. He has also produced several pilots for 44 Blue, launching the History Channel's Mega Movers, and the recently completed LA Gang Unit for A&E. David has enjoyed his entire career at 44 Blue, joining the company shortly after graduating cum laude from Duke University with a Certificate in Film & Video.

GINA BECCONSALL

Gina Becconsall started with 44 Blue Productions in the Fall of 2005 as Post Producer. In her 5 years with the company, she has grown to Director of Post Production & Operations. She is responsible for the daily operation of the Post Department. She oversees all of the Post staff, including more than a dozen editors. She is the liaison for all Line Producers and Show Runners as well as with all the Networks. Since Gina started with the company, she has overseen the delivery of more than 250 hours of Programming with over 10 networks. She also supervises Post for all of the Development projects for the company. Before joining 44 Blue, she was the Coordinating Producer for Nickelodeon GAS: Games & Sports for Kids in New York. She managed all of the production and post-production for the channel. In addition, she supervised all off-air initiatives (marketing, online & sweepstakes) as well as produced interstitials & sponsored billboards for the network. While at Nickelodeon, Gina also acted as Executive in Charge of Production for Double Dare 2000. She oversaw 65 half-hour (game show) episodes. Gina started her career in television at The Ricki Lake Show as a Production Assistant in 1996.

PJ Donnelly

P.J. Donnelly currently serves as the Director of Post Production and Technical Services at 44 Blue Productions. He has over fourteen years of experience working in television post production and joined 44 Blue Productions in 2002. Upon his arrival at 44 Blue, he began supervising all aspects of it's post production. With his extensive technical knowledge, he has helped the company change the way it approached post production and assisted 44 Blue in creating it's own fully functional post production facility. He is responsible for keeping 44 Blue on the cutting edge of post production technology and workflows. Additionally, he is a talented online editor, having provided color correction and finishing on well over a hundred hours of programming. Prior to working at 44 Blue Productions, Donnelly served as a Post Production Supervisor on a variety television programs. He has worked on well over twenty different cable programming series and specials, as well as, network shows such as Guinness World Records on FOX and Kids Say the Darndest Things with Bill Cosby on CBS.

Mark Hamaguchi

As Director of Production Management, Mark Hamaguchi oversees all of the aspects of production management for demos, pilots and series that are developed through 44 Blue Productions. Mark started his career at MTV Networks as an Ad Sales Assistant. Through handling a wide variety of tasks and projects dealing with commercial airtime, he soon discovered that his energy, thirst for adventure and passion for multi-tasking were better suited for the production side of entertainment. His career transition led him to Triage Entertainment, Inc. where he gained experience working with producers and supervising field shoots for such notable shows as Lifetime Television's "Beyond Chance," Fine Living Network's "Great Adventures," Fox Family's "Scariest Places On Earth" and "A Home For the Holidays" (CBS' annual adoption special). Mark's career has always been as entertaining as the programs and shows he works on. He has traveled to beautiful locales like the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and the Big Island and has worked on shows dealing with celebrities and musical acts such as Stevie Wonder, Melissa Etheridge, Mariah Carey and Faith Hill. He also has had to film while riding inside the trunk of an off-roading Jeep while in Death Valley, face a roaring bear as it was released from its cage and work on an antique World War 2 era ship called the S.S. Lane Victory. Since arriving at 44 Blue in 2002, Mark has worked on a range of different pilots and series, including "Lockup" (MSNBC), "Deadliest Warrior Season 3" (SPIKE), "Pit Bulls and Parolees" (Animal Planet), "Find & Design" (A&E), "What Should You Do?" (Lifetime), "LA Gang Unit" (A&E), "CRISIS" (SPIKE) and "Mega Movers" (History Channel). For Mark, working at 44 Blue has been his ultimate adventure up until the birth of his identical twin girls. Now that's a whole other story.