The Digital Hollywood Experience

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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Track II: Haas Conference Center, Room 171

Content Strategies in Hollywood: TV - Film - Internet - Branding & Influencers

Jim Amos, founder, Scout53, former, President of Distribution, Sony Pictures and SVP Head of Sales, STX Entertainment

JR Griffin, Vice President, Digital Marketing & Business Development, FremantleMedia North America

Barak Shragai, CEO, IMGN Media

Stuart McLean, President, Content & Co.

Marlina Fletcher, Managing Director, Stink Studios

Elsa Ramo, Managing Partner, Ramo Law PC, Moderator

 

JR Griffin, Vice President, Digital Marketing & Business Development, FremantleMedia North America (FMNA): JR Griffin is the Vice President of Digital Marketing & Business Development at FremantleMedia North America (FMNA).  In this role, he is responsible for digital integrations and extensions for hit FMNA shows such as America's Got Talent, American Idol, Family Feud, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, and American Gods. JR is a publishing and digital media executive with over a decade of new media and web content development, programming and management experience. Whether it be through stimulating viewer engagement, creating innovative digital content, or

forming groundbreaking partnerships, JR has been a leader in amplifying FMNA’s social TV presence, and finding unique ways for the company’s formats to evolve and have a presence on multiple platforms. His work on American Idol and America's Got Talent has produced multiple worldwide firsts, including the debut of Google Search Voting, live coast-to-coast voting, and live-streamed audition partnerships on platforms such as YouNow and Live.ly. JR has also been instrumental in creating digital activations for numerous game show properties and other programs that engaged audiences online, and complemented the show's on-air broadcasts. Prior to joining FMNA, JR created and ran the New Media Programming division of NBCUniversal for their E!, Style and G4 networks.  In this role, he oversaw the creation of all video content for each of the networks’ sites and mobile applications, as well as their video syndication businesses, which included signature Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards coverage.

 

Marlina Fletcher, Managing Director, Stink Studios: Marlina Fletcher is a seasoned brand and marketing veteran who currently serves as the Managing Director at Stink Studios in Los Angeles, California, where she has made significant impact in building the company’s appeal to global brands, driving forward the Stink Studios culture of creativity and innovation, and attracting local talent to their offices. Prior to joining Stink in 2017, she worked in the Global Brand department at Beats and as a Global Digital Producer at Nike.

 

Jim Amos is the founder of Scout 53, a full service film industry consulting service, offering 20+ years of movie industry expertise for companies that require film distribution, marketing & PR along with industry market analysis and boxoffice projections, multi-dimensional technologies and sales, PVOD and Event Cinema content services. He spent 20 years with Sony Pictures, the last several years as President of Domestic Distribution, and two years with start-up studio STX, where he assembled a sales team and distribution system from the ground up, culminating with the company's first $100 million film, "Bad Moms". In his many capacities at Sony Pictures Jim proved instrumental in the success of dozens of box-office blockbusters, over 100 of which opened to #1 at the boxoffice. In addition, more than 50 of the films he has worked on have grossed more than $100 million domestically. Jim did not solely work on big budget tentpoles at Sony—he also developed and initiated sales plans for several limited release films at Sony, many of which were nominated for (and won) Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. Jim is also a regular columnist for Celluloid Junkie, providing a weekly recap of the weekend at the boxoffice, both from a domestic and international viewpoint, as well as a preview of the upcoming week's new releases along with the first boxoffice projections for those films anywhere in the industry. In addition, Jim has also recently served as Vice President of Distribution at Fathom Events and is a member of the Event Cinema Association. A vegan and animal rights activist, Jim lives in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles with his wife Lori and their rescue animals. His hobbies include travel, classic films, golf, hiking and his beloved Boston sports teams.

 

Cary Granat, CEO, Immersive Artistry: Cary Granat is a leader, innovator and pioneer in the entertainment industry with over 55 films and $5.8 billion in box office revenues with a track record for creating new business models in 3D cinema, global film production and education. He is best known for co-founding and serving as CEO for Walden Media from 2000 to 2009 and acting as President and COO of Miramax Films’ Dimension Division from 1995 to 2000. While at Walden Media, Granat secured the rights to C.S. Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia series and oversaw production on the hugely successful first film of the franchise, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Granat’s other films include Scream, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Scary Movie, Amazing Graze, and Spy Kids. Cary Granat worked at MCA/Universal first as Director of Development from 1992 to 1995. He worked on films such as Babe and Casino, as well as acquired the original Meet the Parents, a Gregg Glienna film, for remake. While working in the film group under Hal Lieberman and Casey Silver, Granat also found himself evaluating corporate deals for the company. While this was outside his job purview, it built a mentor relationship for Granat with company chairman Tom Pollock. After Universal, Granat joined Dimension Films as Head of Creative and then later as President and COO from 1995 to 2000. Granat worked closely with and for Bob Weinstein to build Dimension into one of the most recognizable brands in the entertainment business, managing a roster that became distinguished for both its trend-setting content and international box-office success. This includes the blockbuster Scream franchise, the Wayan’s Scary Movie franchise and Dimension’s launch of Robert Rodriguez’s highly successful Spy Kids franchise. During this time Dimension re-established the Studio System of the 30’s and 40’s, building an exclusive family of artists including Guillermo del Toro, Robert Rodriguez, Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, Ehren Kruger, and Ben Affleck. In addition to films, Dimension capitalized on the synergy between music and film, establishing the alliance of Sony and Capitol/EMI in the formation of Miramax/Dimension Records. The Dimension Executive team of the 1990’s was a highly collaborative group of executives who all fought for the success of the projects; such as Andrew Rona, Andrew Gumpert, Michael Helfant, Richard Potter, Randy Spendlove, Brian Burkin, and Josh Greenstein. In 2000, Granat co-founded Walden Media, a multi-billion dollar trusted family brand in film, 3D innovation, publishing, education, theater, and live entertainment. He served as CEO from 2000 to 2009. As CEO, Granat gained the rights to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series and oversaw production on the first film of the franchise, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe—one of the highest-grossing films of 2005. The Narnia franchise has generated over $1.62 billion in theatrical gross on its first three installments. In addition to the Chronicles of Narnia, Granat produced the Journey to the Center of the Earth franchise, Charlotte’s Web, James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep, Ghosts of the Abyss, Bridge to Terabithia, Holes, and over 50 other children’s films and books. Granat built out Walden’s film, educational, and faith activities locally in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, France, Germany, Japan, and other foreign markets. In addition to his duties as CEO, Granat was appointed in April 2004 as President of Anschutz Film Group, whereby the company acquired Crusader Entertainment and supervised the completion of the award winning biography Ray and the Matthew McConaughey film, Sahara. After Granat and team produced Amazing Grace, he and company co-founder Michael Flaherty earned the prestigious John Templeton Foundation Epiphany Prize. From 2010 to 2014, Granat was a Partner at Reel FX/Granat Ent. The artist-driven production and development company, Granat Entertainment, merged with animation studio Reel FX in order to create a new live-action/animation studio. The company forged partnerships with Andrew Adamson, Guillermo Del Toro, James Cameron, Cirque du Soleil, Fox Film, Steve Aioki and others while producing Free Birds, Book of Life, World Away, The Hive and other projects. In 2012, Granat co-founded and launched Immersive Artistry, an innovative location based entertainment business that combines cutting edge technologies with enveloping mythologies that allow you to explore worlds such as Ocean Exploration, The North Pole, and Kind Heaven. The company is a participatory experience considered the newest evolution in media placing you inside the movie, rather than watching it. The company will be launching its first locations in Las Vegas, China, and throughout the world in 2017. Granat serves as the company CEO.

 

Stuart McLean, President, Content & Co.: A serial innovator who has made a career out of anticipating marketing industry trends and then building successful businesses that provide value to brands looking to reach customers amidst changing times, Stuart McLean is President for Content & Co. From a career start on Madison Avenue that racked up numerous industry honors, to becoming a multi-award-winning brand studio founder and advertising technology entrepreneur, McLean has built and led companies with one goal in mind: using content to connect brand messaging to consumers in the most impactful ways possible, always with a focus on delivering enterprise value and measurable ROI. McLean founded Content & Co. in 2008 as a creative-led brand studio staffed with best-in-class showrunners, writers, artists, planners and strategic thinkers. Content & Co. has been named Subway’s Agency of The Year, created Ad Age’s “Small Agency Campaign of the Year” in 2014, and was honored as one of the Effies’ “Top 10 Most Effective Independent Agencies.” Prior to founding Content & Co., McLean worked at JWT where he launched and served as President of its studio division JWTwo after beginning his career on Madison Avenue at Young & Rubicam. Over the course of his career, McLean has executed successful campaigns for elite brands such as FCA, Unilever, Kellogg’s, Ford, AB InBev, Schick, Subway, and Pepsi, among others. He currently sits on the board of Think LA, which was founded to promote Los Angeles as a network of creativity and innovation in media, marketing, and advertising. McLean also holds three patents for modular cloud-based systems that enable centralized OTT advertising delivery and monetization. As an investor and board member, he has backed several ad tech startups including Sniffercat, which provides a single source solution for analytics, ad sales, and vendor management.

 

Elsa Ramo, Managing Partner, Ramo Law PC: Named a game changer and one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders in Law and Finance” by Variety, Elsa Ramo has represented over 90 films and 15 television series in 2017 alone, including 14 that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. Elsa provides comprehensive legal services to producers, financiers, creators and owners of film, television and digital content and projects across a range of budgets and production levels. She established her own law firm to enable up-and- coming filmmakers and producers to bring their stories to life. Her credits include the four Oscar-nominated films, “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Disaster Artist,” “Loving Vincent,” and “Still Alice.” Elsa’s leadership within the legal and entertainment communities extends beyond her successful Beverly Hills firm. She dedicates substantial time to mentoring women though various organizations. Additionally, Elsa is a go-to commentator and instructor on legal issues related to film financing and the entertainment market. Elsa Ramo founded the firm in 2005 on the Universal Studios backlot after several clients approached her to handle their independent productions. Now as managing partner to the firm, she handles client matters as well as manages the firm’s attorneys and packaging and sales department.