Tuesday, October 16, 2018

2:40 PM - 3:40 PM, Haas Conference Center, Room 171

The Content Development & Financing Workshop - Film – TV – Indie Production – Internet Programming

Elissa Friedman, SVP Development & Production, Covert Media

Matthew Soraci, COO, The Lagralane Group

Kayla Tabish, Director/Producer

SJ Murray, Ph.D., EMMY®-nominated filmmaker and award-winning writer, producer, director, & educator

Jim Milio, Producer/Executive Producer of Motion Pictures and Television Programming

Greg Gentschev, VP of Product, Video, Gracenote

Jamice Oxley, Associate, Pryor Cashman LLP, Moderator

Jim Milio has been an award-winning writer, producer and director of television and films for more than thirty years. Milio has written, produced, or directed more than 400 hours of primetime television including “Dog Whisperer” for National Geographic, “Founding Fathers” for the History Channel, The Discovery Channel’s “Eco-Challenge Australia,” “Rescue 911” for CBS, the Emmy nominated “Great Moments in Disney Animation” for ABC, and “The Real Las Vegas” for A&E. In film, Milio wrote and directed Men Seeking Women starring Will Ferrell and was the co-executive producer of the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Milio was co-chair of the Non-Fiction

Committee of the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and was a member of the Non-Fiction Steering Committee of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) for two years. He has won three People’s Choice Awards (“Dog Whisperer,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and “Rescue 911”) and been nominated for numerous Emmy Awards and Writer’s Guild Awards.

Elissa Friedman, Production Executive, Covert Media: Friedman develops and builds the Covert Media slate. She serves as an Executive Producer on all of their titles including the highly anticipated Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts, the newly announced The Ice Cream Man, Forty-Six directed by Alik Sakharov, YA thriller Need, and Resurface produced alongside Broken Road Productions. Before joining Covert Media, Elissa served as production executive at QED International for over six years working on such films as Fury, Sabotage, Fading Gigolo, Haunt and Dirty Grandpa, as well as associate producer on Rock The Kasbah.

Kayla Tabish is driven by content that parallels our current political and social climates. She produced Loren Cass, for which she was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award and the film world premiered at Locarno International Film Festival. Loren Cass was programmed at many prestigious film festivals, including Viennale and Dennis Hopper's CineVegas, the film then went on to receive theatrical distribution and was called "One of the Year’s Greatest Discoveries" by The New York Times. Kayla then directed Culture of Fear starring Malcolm McDowell(Golden Globe nominee, A Clockwork Orange, Mozart in the Jungle) and Steven Bauer(2x Golden Globe nominee, Scarface, Ray Donovan). Culture of Fear will be released in mid 2018. Her next feature is currently in development.

Greg Gentschev, Vice President, Video, Gracenote: Greg Gentschev is Vice President, Video at Gracenote. He leads the development of business intelligence and workflow solutions that help the entertainment industry develop the most compelling and commercially successful content as well as next-generation metadata and rich imagery offerings which power cutting-edge search and discovery capabilities for pay-TV and CE customers. Prior to Gracenote, Greg worked at Pivotal Labs providing agile coaching and software development services to Global 2000 clients. Before that, he managed OTT and social data products at Tribune Media Services. Greg also has experience advising private equity and Global 2000 clients on growth strategy and product development. He has an MBA from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

SJ Murray, Ph.D., EMMY®-nominated filmmaker and award-winning writer, producer, director, & educator: Born in Ireland and based in the US, SJ Murray, Ph.D. (Princeton), is an EMMY®-nominated filmmaker and award-winning writer, producer, director, & educator. She studied screenwriting at UCLA and is a tenured member of the faculty at Baylor University. By combining her expertise and experience in education, filmmaking, and (social) entrepreneurship, SJ has established herself as one of the most connected executive producers and writers in independent film and media. A world-class expert in story and pioneer in the field of story design™, SJ is able to manage and speak into each stage of film and television development, from creative inception (research and story) to distribution and impact campaign, making her a talented showrunner in the truest sense of the word. Her work has played at major film festivals and has been acquired by PBS, LinkTV, and Netflix. In 2018, she was recognized as part of the inaugural cohort of #50WomenCan Change the World in Media and Entertainment, celebrating rising women stars in the film and media industries. She is also an authorized executive and agent to major studios and distributors. Since 2014, her story-driven strategies and campaigns, developed with AnderImage, have won nineteen international creative, marketing, and branding awards, including the Silver Telly and Communicator Award of Excellence. She is the author of three books: From Plato to Lancelot: A Preface to Chrétien de Troyes (2008), Basics of Story Design: Twenty Steps to an Insanely Great Screenplay (2017), and Storytelling for Today* (*and every day) (due out in 2018). SJ has delivered keynotes and hosted high-profile conversations at venues including the University of Paris, Harvard, Microsoft HQ, the Royal Palace of Spain, the United Nations, the White House, TEDx, and during the SXSW and Sundance Film festivals.

Matthew Soraci is the Chief Operating Officer of Lagralane Group, bringing nearly two decades of strategic experience to the role. Matthew directs the day to day operations involving business development, finance, marketing and human resources. Along with acting as COO, Matthew has garnered individual credits on Lagralane titles, acting as executive producer on THE BLOOD IS AT THE DOORSTEP, and as associate producer on Harry Dean Stanton’s LUCKY. Under the Lagralane company credit, Matthew also co-executive produced the 2018 Academy Award winning documentary ICARUS, which premiered at Sundance in 2017 and VOYEUR, Netflix original. Alongside his film credits, his penchant for creative storytelling has led to a lifelong involvement in the arts. Matthew serves on the board of Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble and Chicago Media Project (CMP).

Jamice Oxley, Associate, Pryor Cashman LLP: Jamice Oxley is a graduate of Yale University, where she received a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies, and Loyola Law School, where she received her Juris Doctor degree. Jamice currently practices entertainment and intellectual property law as an Associate in the Los Angeles office of Pryor Cashman LLP. Jamice is a member of the firm’s Media + Entertainment, Intellectual Property and Digital Media groups where she provides strategic counsel to artists, entertainers, production companies, music publishers, digital media companies, and film and television studios. Jamice negotiates and drafts all manner of entertainment and intellectual property agreements on behalf of clients in the areas of music, television, film, digital media and technology and serves as production counsel for film and unscripted and scripted television and digital media projects. Prior to joining Pryor Cashman, Jamice was a junior partner of B2L Entertainment Law Group in Los Angeles, California, a boutique entertainment firm, representing creative talent and production companies in music, television, film, digital media, book publishing and technology. Jamice’s practice consisted of negotiating and drafting agreements on behalf of content creators, distributors, production companies and creative talent, serving as production counsel for the creation and distribution of content and advising clients with respect to the protection and distribution of trademark and copyright intellectual property rights. Prior to B2L, Jamice worked for Courtroom View Network as a legal content associate and as an attorney for a mid-sized business and entertainment litigation and transactional firm, Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff. Jamice has also held legal positions with the Los Angeles Public Defenders’ Office, the Directors Guild of America, and the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Warner Bros., and Rhino Home Video in both litigation and entertainment transactional capacities. Jamice Oxley is also an active Board member. Since 2010, Jamice has served on the Alumnae Council Board for her high school alma mater, Marlborough School, a private Los Angeles all-girls’ day school. She was a member of the school’s private Search Committee to appoint a new Head of School in 2014-2015 and has served as a member of the Marlborough School Board of Trustees Policies & Practices Committee and the Development Committee. Jamice, since 2012, has also served on the Executive Committee of the Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law Section (ELIPS) of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA). She is currently the Vice-President of the Section and will hold the position of President in 2017-2018. Jamice also actively participates as a member of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association and the Entertainment Law Section of the John M. Langston Bar Association. Jamice Oxley is also a Yale University Alumni Admissions Interviewer, an active supporter of organizations committed to servicing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families, and an active fundraiser and supporter for African-American candidates and women running for and currently serving in political office. Jamice currently serves on the Advisory Committee of Ignite, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote gender parity in politics and increase the number of women running for political office in the United States.