Thursday, May 24th, 2018

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Track II: Herscher Hall, Guerin C

Digital Deals - Networks, Studios and Producers - Monetizing Content Across Platforms

Jason Henderson, Sr. Manager, Business Development, DISH Network

Russell Schwartz, Senior Vice President and Head, Original Programming Business & Legal Affairs, Starz

Karen M. Robson, Partner, Pryor Cashman

Bruce Eisen, founder and president, The Law Offices of Bruce David Eisen

David Tenzer, Entertainment Attorney, formerly Generate, CAA

Ryan P. Hall, Head of Development, Rooster Teeth

Michael Sid, CEO, Mediamorph, Moderator

Ryan P. Hall, Executive Producer, Rooster Teeth: As Head of Development, Ryan P. Hall oversees Rooster Teeth’s slate of development while also leading the initiative of identifying up-and-coming projects and talent. Before coming to Rooster Teeth, Hall most recently served as Head of Development at Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning’s production company Roenberg Entertainment, overseeing multiple projects in both film and television while also working alongside the directing team on Netflix’s Marco Polo and Disney’s upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Prior to Roenberg, Hall spent several years in physical production at Paramount Pictures before acting as Creative Executive at Jon Turteltaub’s Junction Entertainment, where he worked on films including Cloverfield, Star Trek and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Karen M. Robson, Partner, Pryor Cashman: Karen Robson is a veteran entertainment lawyer who co-leads the Los Angeles office of Pryor Cashman LLP. Originally an actress and a lawyer in her native Australia and then in NYC before opening Pryor Cashman’s LA office, she has a unique ability to understand the various angles of stakeholders on every side of the table. She is an expert in indie film and TV finance production and distribution (both US and international), but has expanded into many areas, including international co-production of film and TV, reality TV, digital media and children’s programming and the financing, production and monetization of these productions. She has a wealth of experience speaking in large crowds, and has been a speaker in festival markets and seminars in the Middle East, Spain, Singapore, Australia and the U.S. (focusing on both domestic and emerging markets such as India and South America).

Jason Henderson is Sr. Manager, Business Development in Video Entertainment and Marketing for Dish Network, focusing on negotiating deals with content and marketing service providers. Before that he ran the iTV Apps team for Dish Network, focusing on consumer applications to transform interactive television, and for eight years was a product manager for Verizon FiOS TV, with responsibility for new Gaming, Music, and TV Everywhere projects. He has written for games and comics clients including Marvel Comics, Activision, EA, Tokyopop and more. Alex Van Helsing, his popular young adult series from HarperCollins, was named to the Texas Library Association Lone Star Reading List, and his first nonfiction book, California Tiki: A History of Polynesian Idols, Pineapple Cocktails and Coconut Palm Trees, comes out this Summer. Young Captain Nemo, his new series from Macmillan books, will debut in March 2019. Henderson hosts the popular weekly podcasts "Castle of Horror" and "Castle Talk" for Bleedingcool.com, featuring reviews, interviews and panel discussions from top comics and games writers. He earned his BA from University of Dallas and his JD from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. Henderson lives in Colorado with his wife and two daughters.

Russell Schwartz, Senior Vice President and Head, Original Programming Business & Legal Affairs at Starz Entertainment, LLC: Mr. Schwartz served as President of New Line Domestic Marketing of New Line Cinema, LLC and Time Warner Inc. He was Partner at the law firm of Sachnoff & Weaver. A 25-year TV industry veteran, Mr. Schwartz most recently was a Consultant, with clients including individual producers, new media start ups, ABC Studios and ABC Network. Mr. Schwartz ... spent 17 years at HBO in various business affairs positions and prior to that worked for GTG Entertainment and CBS Entertainment as a business affairs executive. While at HBO, Mr. Schwartz shepherded the mega-hit "Everybody Loves Raymond, " as well as working on series starring Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Charles Dutton, John Leguizamo and Ben Stiller. Mr. Schwartz has also held various senior executive positions in the television business with responsibility for television production, financing, distribution, merchandising, strategic planning, and new media. Mr. Schwartz graduated with a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and received his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

David Tenzer is an entertainment lawyer and business consultant, with extensive experience in many sectors of the media industry. His clients include talented artists and companies in all areas of entertainment, including actors, writers, directors, producers, on-camera personalities, lifestyle experts, film and television distributors and digital content providers. For 24 years (1982-2006), Mr. Tenzer worked at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, one of the world’s leading talent agencies. He started at CAA as an executive in Motion Picture Business Affairs, then transferred to the Television Division, where he soon was named the head of Television Business Affairs. After several years, he became a Television Agent, working first in television movies, then covering CAA’s projects at CBS. Mr. Tenzer co-founded and operated the agency’s International Television Department, Alternative Programming Department, and later its Lifestyles Department. During his tenure at CAA, he also worked with the agency’s New Media, Film Financing and Marketing Departments, handling clients such as eBay, Delta Airlines and Procter & Gamble. As a Television Agent, Mr. Tenzer was responsible for selling over 40 produced series, movies and specials, with budgets in excess of $800 million. These included scripted prime-time series for broadcast and cable networks, reality shows, documentaries, children’s programming and international co-productions, as well as projects (such as “Home Made Simple” and “Dear Santa”) directly underwritten by advertisers. As a Business Affairs executive, he negotiated virtually every type of television production contract, including license agreements on behalf of production companies, distribution and co-financing arrangements, overall deals with studios, sponsorship and endorsement deals, contingent compensation definitions and agreements with above-the- line talent. He was also responsible for all commission and packaging issues within CAA’s Television Division. Mr. Tenzer has served on the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association, the Banff World Television Festival, NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) and the Hollywood Radio and Television Society. He traveled to Beijing and Shanghai with Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan as an entertainment delegate on the city’s Trade Mission to Asia. He was named one of “Twelve to Watch” by Electronic Media in one of its annual cover stories. Prior to joining CAA, Mr. Tenzer was a contracts attorney with IBM Europe in Paris and Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles. He also worked in private practice with the law firm Rosen, Wachtell & Gilbert, where he specialized in commercial transactions and business litigation. Mr. Tenzer has an undergraduate degree in Politics from U.C. Santa Cruz, a law degree from U.C. Davis and an M.A. in Urban Studies from Occidental College. He was a Coro Foundation Public Affairs Fellow, and earned a Certificate in Advanced International Legal Studies from McGeorge School of Law. Mr. Tenzer is a member of the State Bar of California and a licensed real estate broker. He is an experienced public speaker, and has testified as an expert witness in several lawsuits and arbitrations, including the recent Golden Globes litigation in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. He is a native of Los Angeles.

Bruce David Eisen is a veteran entertainment attorney and media executive.  Eisen’s legal practice focuses on the intersection of new and traditional media whose clients include Shout! Factory, Brainstorm Media, Rubicon Entertainment, Random Media and Hollywood Media Bridge, among others. Recent services include providing production legal services for an upcoming Chiller network movie, providing out-sourced legal and business affairs services that includes drafting and negotiating distribution agreements with various entities including Hulu, Redbox, iN DEMAND,  Amazon, PlayStation Network and Vimeo; structuring and drafting development and writer agreements as well as  drafting and negotiating content acquisition agreements.  Other recent activities include M&A legal work representing the seller of an entertainment company as well as the seller of a music library, each of which sold for seven figures. From 2009 through 2012 Eisen was the Vice President Online Content Development & Strategy for DISH Network where he negotiated agreements with most of the major television networks on behalf of DISH, licensing over 20,000 television shows for distribution and acquiring on-demand rights from the major Hollywood studios including VOD/EST/SVOD rights for distribution of their content across multiple platforms including set-top boxes, DishOnline.com, iPad, iPhone and Android devices. Eisen was one of the principals who started CinemaNow in 1999 and, as the company’s general counsel, negotiated financing for the company in excess of $40 million, negotiated CinemaNow’s agreements with over 200 content licensors including all of the major Hollywood studios as well as agreements with local ISPs, portals and film distributors to bring CinemaNow to the U.K., the Netherlands, Taiwan, Philippines, Latin America, and Singapore.  In addition, Eisen was instrumental in creating CinemaNow Japan, Inc., an affiliated entity that raised over $15 million in funding. Eisen structured the strategy and business aspects of CinemaNow’s technology requirements to enable the efficient, cost-effective distribution of content on a worldwide, video-on-demand basis and, in that regard, licensed all required technology including agreements for content delivery network services, data services, data hosting, geo-targeting, recommendation engines, web analytics, network storage  and customer relation management with companies such as Akamai, Limelight, Savvis, Intel, Qwest, RightNow Technologies and WebSideStory. Eisen started his career as the head of Legal and Business Affairs for Trimark Pictures where his responsibilities included negotiating the company’s distribution agreements with companies including the Walt Disney Company, Miramax, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Columbia Pictures, HBO and others.   Eisen also negotiated and drafted Trimark’s development agreements as well as its production legal agreements including those with such talent as Samuel L. Jackson, Renee Zelweger, Peter Jackson and Jim Belushi.  In addition, Eisen structured the company’s relationships with the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America and was instrumental in negotiating Trimark’s $25 million line of credit with Bank of America and Trimark’s $75 million line of credit with The Chase Manhattan Bank as well as numerous production financing agreements with various lenders and bond companies. Eisen received his J.D. from the University of Southern California in 1991 and his B.A. cum laude with high honors in Philosophy from Clark University in 1984.

Michael Sid, CEO, Mediamorph: Mr. Michael Sid, also known as Mike Co-founded and has been the Chief Executive Officer and Director of MediaMorph Inc. since April 10, 2007 and serves as its President. From November 2004 until founding MediaMorph, Mr. Sid served as President of Michael Sid & Associates, a private consulting firm providing management consulting services to clients. From September 2005 to April 2007, he served as Vice President of Services for Connotate Technologies, a software provider. Previously, Mr. Sid served as a Senior Manager of BearingPoint from January 2004 to November 2004 and was a Senior Director at Sony Music Entertainment from August 2002 to January 2004 where, he oversaw the technology group. Prior to that, Mr. Sid served as a Managing Director at Context Integration from September 1998 to August 2002, which provided technology consulting services. He received a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988.