Executive Bios

As the television industry’s premier international independent program representation firm, CABLEready strives to develop quality original programming and distribute successful program libraries and series franchises, while growing our clients’ business…and having fun doing it!

President & CEO Gary Lico founded CABLEready in 1992 to represent existing program libraries and to develop original program ideas for the growing number of US cable networks… at just the right time. Prior to launching CABLEready, Gary spent seven years at Columbia Pictures Television, serving as Vice President, Eastern Region, and prior to that as Vice President, Programming for Katz Communications, aiding TV stations across the US in buying and scheduling programming. Other accomplishments include guiding TVS Television from a sports packager to entertainment syndicator; launching Disney’s first syndication of The New Mickey Mouse Club at sfm Entertainment; and serving as both co-host and co-producer of top-rated daily talk series A New Day on WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee. Gary received his M.S. in TV/Radio/Film from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University (where he also taught writing and announcing, and today, endows an annual scholarship) and his B.A.A. in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University. Full bio.

As CABLEready’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Lou Occhicone is responsible for the daily operations of the company, overseeing the growing sales services staff, management of all contracts, original program development, and coordination of convention activities. As well, Mr. Occhicone oversees the operations of CABLEready Productions and spearheaded the launch of the company in August 2008. He is also a Managing Partner in CableU, a cable programming research company that on an ongoing basis monitors, analyzes and issues in-depth reports on network performance and programming trends. In 2008 he was honored by being named to Fairfield County Business Journal’s Fairfield County’s Top 40 under 40. Full bio.

Sabrina Ayala is CABLEready’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Her main focus is in international sales for CABLEready, particularly in Asia, Pacific Rim, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Spain, Italy, the Middle East and Canada. Sabrina also manages the creation of sales and marketing materials, handles ratings research for the company, participates in original program development and oversees all public relations/publicity efforts. Most recently, Sabrina served as a teaching assistant at Syracuse University while she completed her Master of Science degree in Media Management. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing intern in the CBS News New Media department. A graduate of New York University, Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Journalism. Sabrina is fluent in Spanish and French.

John Casey is CABLEready’s Vice President of Finance. Prior to joining CABLEready, Casey served as finance manager with Comcast’s Outdoor Life Network and Speedvision, where he was in charge of budgeting, forecasting, and corporate financial reporting for the company. His fifteen years of broad-based business experience in finance and management encompasses media, technology and banking industries. John is responsible for all financial functions of the company including planning, compliance, benefits administration and financial aspects of contractual obligations. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Central Connecticut State University.

Liz Tobias joined CABLEready in 2006 and serves as the company’s Director of Program Development. She is responsible for supervising all acquisitions and submissions and also works closely with CABLEready’s program suppliers on projects in development. Additionally Liz works closely with CABLEU, a sister company that is a first-of-its-kind, subscription-only online service providing ongoing competitive analysis of performance and trends concerning nearly 150 cable networks. Prior to joining CABLEready, Liz was On-Air Promotions Coordinator at CourtTV in New York. Earlier in her career she served as Development Coordinator at Versus (formerly Outdoor Life Network.) She holds a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.