Thursday, October 18, 2018

3:50 PM - 5:00 PM

Track II: Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 305

Blockchain, Content Rights, Licensing and Technology Solutions in Media and Entertainment: Implementation of Technology Strategies

Michael Alexander, Strategy & Growth Initiatives, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry

Jason Brooks, Partner, Altview Law Group, LLP.

Robin Wilson, Director, RW TV

Chris Parker, CEO, Story Data, LLC.

Bill Woods, SVP, MediaMorph, Moderator

 

Michael Alexander, Strategy & Growth Initiatives, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry: Michael Alexander has more than 30 years of systems development experience in all aspects of the information technology business. Currently, Alexander is global solutions architect for SPST (service provider strategic transformation) in IBM's global telecom solutions. He consults with clients globally as an NGN telco subject matter expert  (SME) and as a technical leader in VoIP solutions. In addition, Alexander is responsible for the development of telco technical NGN and specifically for VoIP solutions developed by IBM for U.S. clients AT&T, BellSouth, Qwest, SBC & Verizon. He was previously  the IT architect profession executive and enterprise architecture

practice lead for business innovation services, Australia/New Zealand. Before joining IBM, Alexander was technical partner & chief architect in the solutions integration practice at AT&T Solutions. He was responsible for the development of solution architectures that ensured successful engagements with all clients. Previously, Alexander worked at Unisys for 22 years and was the chief architect for Unisys' global systems integration practice. He has previously spoken on digital media topics at TM Forum Americas and TM Forum Nice.

 

Christopher Parker is Founder and Chief Engineer behind the artificial intelligence driven screenplay hosting and collaboration platform storydata.io. Additionally, he helped start and architect the technology behind the upcoming platform Eve Network, with the goal to provide Hollywood professionals with turnkey OTT networks. Christopher is an experienced independent film producer, helping shepherd such films as “The Removed”, “The Jack of Spades” and “Elysium”. He is also an optioned writer, having optioned a film to paramount based Continuum Pictures. Additionally, Christopher guest lectures at UCLA for Professor and Hollywood Executive Producer "Randy Greenberg", teaching entertainment professional’s equity funding utilizing the Jobs Act.

 

Bill Woods, SVP, MediaMorph: Mr. Woods has been involved with the sale and implementation of technology solutions for the Media & Entertainment industry for over 30 years and maintains strong relationships with the Hollywood Studios and the PayTV Operators who they license content to. Bill is currently a Senior Vice President at Mediamorph where he is responsible for helping customers utilize Mediamorph SaaS modules and Data Management services to gain efficiencies, improve financial reporting and optimize licensed content in the digital supply chain. Prior to joining Mediamorph he ran Sales organizations at HP, Counterpoint  Systems (acquired by Vistex), Nortel and venture backed startups Occam Networks (acquired by Calix), eAssist (acquired by Talisma) and Data Select Systems.  He has a BS in Quantitate Methods from Cal State Long Beach and has completed studies in the Master of Science in Technology Management program at the Graziadio School of Management at Pepperdine.

 

Robin Wilson, Director, RW TV: As the former VP of Business Development at NAGRA, Robin Wilson’s responsibilities include ensuring that the company’s current and future solutions are developed and applied whenever new opportunities or markets arise. Robin has over 25 years of international broadcast technology experience in companies that include BBC, NBC, RCA, DiviCom, Grass Valley and Modulus Video where he has held various marketing, engineering, management and founding positions. Robin’s technical expertise encompasses compressed video (MPEG-2, MPEG-4), content distribution (satellite, cable, IPTV, OTT,OVP, broadband), content security (DRM, CAS) and user interfaces. He recently had the opportunity to participate in government relations and lobbying on regulatory matters affecting digital TV, OTT and broadband. Robin has participated in and presented at many industry organizations including SMPTE, EBU, IBC, ATIS, and IEEE. He is also a member of NATAS, the group charged with investigating and selecting EMMY award recipients for innovative TV technology, and of the FCC advisory committee on Downloadable Security for US operators (DSTAC). Robin graduated with a BSc. degree in Applied Physics (EE) from Dundee University, Scotland, and holds a watermarking patent. NAGRA is the digital TV division of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) and a pioneer in pay-TV technology. NAGRA solutions include DRM, Conditional Access, Digital Media Security, User Interfaces for Tablets, SmartTVs, Set Top Boxes for operators using MPEG-4, HEVC, Streaming Media, OTT, IPTV, Cable, Satellite, Mobile TV & VOD.

 

Jason Brooks is a partner with Los Angeles based law firm, Altview Law Group, LLP.  Jason provides business/legal affairs services to content creators and emerging players in the digital space. Specializing in new media and tech, Jason’s knowledge of business development strategy and corporate counsel has helped create opportunities for producers of content across a wide spectrum of the creative community, including social media influencers, businesses in tech, and entertainment producers.