CHATSWORTH, Calif. — In September, when AVN® Media Network Inc. unveils its new monthly AVN Magazine, the publication will offer something old and something new. AVN Vice President Tony Lovett, a veteran of both AVN and the adult industry, will helm the operation as publisher. To help with consolidating and streamlining the editorial content, the company is bringing in a new managing editor: Sharan Street, formerly with L.A. Weekly, joins the company this week.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the team here at AVN,” Street said. “The editorial staffers are real pros who know the industry intimately. The prospect of helping to put together a new product—one that synergistically looks at all aspects of the adult industry—is at once a real challenge and an exciting opportunity.”
“All of us at AVN are very pleased to have Sharan join the AVN group—she will fit right in with the free-spirited, talented professionals who strive to make a difference by delivering quality products that address our customers’ needs,” explains Lovett. “Sharan’s extensive experience and knowledge in print and social, alternative news outlets will be invaluable to AVN’s corporate restructuring and vision.”
From 2000 to 2008, Street worked as managing editor at L.A. Weekly, the dominant alternative newsweekly in Southern California. At the time she came to work for L.A. Weekly, it was part of a six-paper group known as Village Voice Media (sister publications included the Village Voice, Seattle Weekly and City Pages). Hired by Editor Laurie Ochoa, she joined a staff of talented writers, editors, designers and photographers. “It was a great source of pride and inspiration to collaborate with the staffers at the Weekly,” Street said. “We worked hard on every page in every issue—an effort that paid off with many awards for individual stories, special issues, photography and design work.” In 2005 the publications merged with the 11-paper New Times chain, becoming the biggest entity in the alternative press.
Street initially got started in publishing in college, at University of California, Santa Cruz—the student newspaper there, an unruly weekly rag covering city politics and the arts as much as campus issues, proved to be the ideal training ground for a career in the alternative press. Shortly after graduation she was hired at Metro, a newsweekly covering Silicon Valley. During the time she worked there, the company grew into an entity that at its peak produced three alternative papers, one monthly city magazine, a legal newspaper and six community weeklies. Metro was also a pioneer in the online world, first starting with an online bulletin-board service and then expanding into an online version of the paper. At present the company also operates Boulevards.com, a compendium of online city guides.
In addition to her long stints at L.A. Weekly and Metro, Street also enjoyed a two-year stay at the Sierra Club, where she produced a monthly publication for the Angeles Chapter, one of the largest in the Club. Most recently she's become interested in online writing and publishing—though the art of creating an attractive, carefully crafted printed issue remains dear to her heart.
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For more information, contact:
Sharan Street
Managing Editor
818.718.5788
Cindy Cheer
818.718.5788
