Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

10:45 AM - 11:45 AM, Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 303-304, Webcast

Indie TV – OTT and Streaming - The Gateway to the Hollywood of Content to Phones, Tablets, TV and PC

Albhy Galuten, VP of Media Technology Strategy, Sony Network Entertainment

Adam Rymer, President, Legendary Digital Networks

Darren Cross, COO, Unreel Entertainment

Anthony Layser, VP, Partnerships & Programming, Xumo

Peter Leeb, Executive Vice President, Head of US Partnerships + Operations, Studio71, LP | A division of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE

Alex Nahai, founding partner, 420TV

Moderator, Jeffrey Thompson, Media & Entertainment, IBM Global Business Services

Adam Rymer, President, Legendary Digital Networks: Adam Rymer is currently President of Legendary Digital Networks where he oversees all day-to-day business for LDNs digital brands including Nerdist, Geek & Sundry, and Smart Girls. Since joining the company in 2014 he has spearheaded a number of growth initiatives including building out sales and production infrastructure and closing key distribution deals with Verizon, Spotify, and Vessel, and expanding relationships with partners including YouTube, Facebook, and 3BlackDot. Throughout his professional career, Rymer has played an active and instrumental role in the digital transformation of the entertainment industry.

Most recently he was COO/CFO of film finance/production company, Lava Bear Films.  Prior to Lava Bear, Rymer spent eight years at Universal Studios Motion Picture Group, most recently as Senior Vice President, Universal Pictures Digital Platforms, where he spearheaded the studio’s distribution and new business initiatives through emerging channels including mobile, broadband, interactive and digital cinema. Rymer coordinated the company’s electronic sell-through and video-on-demand strategies, oversaw the production of short-form entertainment for mobile and online distribution and helped Universal take an active role in the creation of video games based on its film properties. In 2007, Rymer was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation” list of the top 35 entertainment executives under the age of 35.  Before joining Universal Studios, Rymer was Manager of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Universal Music Group. Previously, he served as Director of Business Development and Market Research at Massachusetts-based startup Webnoize, which tracked, analyzed and hosted seminars on the economic impact of technology on media and entertainment industries. Rymer began his professional career as an associate at L.E.K Consulting, concentrating on private equity advisement, mergers & acquisitions and valuations. Rymer earned an MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a BA in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.

Alex Nahai, founding partner, 420TV: With a background steeped in content creation, entertainment management and talent development, Alex Nahai is a founding partner of 420TV, the first fully-ad supported VOD channel devoted to the diverse and complex world of cannabis. Nahai, a talent agent and record executive, is a dealmaker with a rich understanding of creative storytelling – attributes critical in helping to bridge the gap between the entertainment and cannabis industries. His vision in launching 420TV, is to elevate the global conversation about cannabis through high-quality content with interesting storylines that speak to the viewing preferences of today’s on-the-go consumers.  In addition to giving the cannabis community a positive voice by showcasing great content, Nahai is also developing the channel into a powerful vehicle capable of exploiting multiple verticals, such as merchandise, events, sponsorships and strategic partnerships. In addition to his role with 420TV, Nahai serves as CEO of Alex Nahai Enterprises, which provides a wide range of entertainment related services, including business development, marketing, licensing, talent/artist management, songwriting/production/A&R, entertainment law services, and content creation, acquisition and distribution.  Nahai is also the co-founder and managing partner of RISE Entertainment, a multi-service entertainment company specializing in original content production and distribution, strategic advisement, business and talent representation, monetization of new verticals for existing businesses, and financing. Among the notable companies Nahai has worked with are Universal Music Group, Bento Box Entertainment, Drai's Management Group, William Morris Endeavor, United Talent Agency, OWNZONES Media Network, Microsoft, Cartoon Network, Disney, Atlantic Records and Sony Music. Nahai earned his Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law in 2013. While his work is his passion, he also enjoys spending time with family, friends and his dog, Gus, a half-Lab, half-Dachshund mix.

Albhy Galuten, Vice President of Digital Media Technology Strategy, Sony Corporation of America (SCA): In addition to his technological achievements, Mr. Galuten is a Grammy award-winning record producer, songwriter and arranger. Mr. Galuten joined SCA in March 2005, and is responsible for the Media Technology Group. The Media Technology Group assists with technology strategy and due diligence, research & development, relationships with the content industry and the development of standards. Before coming to Sony, Mr. Galuten was Senior Vice President, Advanced Technology, Universal Music Group. Under Mr. Galuten, eLabs and Universal’s Advanced Technology group provided: strategic advice to senior management in the technology space, performed technical due diligence of software, hardware and business systems, invented technology and filed patents. Under Mr. Galuten, the group also managed standards participation, negotiated technology licenses and provided technical support for lobbying efforts and trade organizations. Before working at Universal, Mr. Galuten was a Vice President at ION where he created and developed the Enhanced CD. Prior to working in technology Mr. Galuten was a musician and record producer. In 1978 he won two Grammy awards including Producer of the Year. His original compositions and orchestrations for Film, Theatre and on record have won him a Dramalogue Award and two BMI Awards. During his music career which spanned more than 20 years, Mr. Galuten worked with numerous multi-platinum artists, produced eighteen No. 1 singles, and generated sales of more than 100 million records.

Anthony Layser is vice president, partnerships and programming at XUMO, the premium television and video-on-demand service for the digital age. In this role, Layser is responsible for developing strategy and analysis used by the executive team to determine and prioritize content partnerships and potential channel partners. He assists with business development/strategy, acquisition deals, and partner management for XUMO. Layser also works across departments (product, operations, finance, legal, marketing, and advertising teams) to plan and execute KPI driven initiatives. He is tasked with driving business KPI’s through the expansion of current partnerships and the development of new business opportunities. He also leads the development of streamlined tracking documents and instruments that help maintain pipeline of current, new and prospective channel partners, and leads onboarding integrations for new partners. Additionally, Layser provides leadership and support throughout the launch and growth of channels, including program and promotional planning, scheduling and renewals. He analyzes distribution trends and forecast revenue to assist in creation of contract renewal strategy. Prior to joining the XUMO team, Layser served as the North American content vice president at Dailymotion. His role involved implementing video content development strategies and leading partner acquisition efforts. He oversaw content managers in New York City, Santa Monica and Toronto, providing creative leadership and acting as a liaison between content programmers, executives and the sales team. During his tenure, Dailymotion’s US audience grew over 500 percent (per Google Analytics). Preceding his work with Dailymotion, Layser oversaw production on over 500 episodes of the award-winning AOL-Huffington Post daily series, You’ve Got. In this role, he guided booking, creation, development, production, distribution, and social media promotion the series. You’ve Got segment views increased from an average of 10M streams per month to 15M streams per month during his tenure, and You’ve Got videos consistently ranked in the daily top five most-viewed videos on the AOL-Huffington Post network. While under Anthony’s leadership, You’ve Got received a Silver Telly Award in the Social Issues category (Silver is the highest honor). Earlier in his career, Anthony developed the video content strategy for both the men’s and women’s lifestyle networks at AOL. While with the women’s lifestyle group, StyleList.com views increased by at least 500K streams per month and KitchenDaily.com views increased by at least 150K streams per month. While overseeing video strategy for the men’s lifestyle group, video views went from 70K views per month to over 2.6M views per month on a fixed budget over a 13-month period. During this same period, Anthony produced over 300 videos, including segments that featured top-notch comedy talent, including Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Jon Glaser, Chris Gethard, and Matt Walsh. Anthony has written for VideoInk, Cracked.com, TV Guide and TVGuide.com, Village Voice Media and Anthem magazine.