The Digital Hollywood Experience

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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

9:15 AM - 10:15 AM

Track I: Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 303-304, Webcasting Live

The Internet, OTT, Media and the Hollywood Connection

Neil Ishibashi, Director of Design Development, Fandango

Reza Rassool, CTO, RealNetworks

Jeffrey Thompson, Media & Entertainment, IBM Global Business Services

Damian Pelliccone, CEO, REVRY

Jonas Halpren, Director of Monetization, Synacor

Miguel Santos, General Manager, Myx TV

Moderator - David Leibowitz, Managing Partner, CH Potomac

 

Neil Ishibashi is Senior Director of Design and Development at Fandango, a unit of NBCUniversal. He develops experiences across the life cycle of movies spanning mobile, online, multi-platform video distribution (Apps, Video On Demand, Digital Storefronts).  Ishibashi manages a team that has won multiple Webby Awards for their design and he is also the winner of the Season 2 competition in Comcast/NBCUniversal's "The Idea," an internal contest where employees have the opportunity to pitch Ideas to the top c-level executives. Fandango is the ultimate digital network for all things movies, serving consumers with best-in-class movie information, ticketing to more than 27,000 screens, movie trailers and original video content for movie discovery, and home entertainment.  Its portfolio reaches more than 63 million unique visitors per month, according to comScore, with over 100 million app downloads, and

includes popular movie properties Flixster, Rotten Tomatoes and the Tomatometer(tm) rating, and Fandango Movieclips, the No. 1 movie trailers and content channel on YouTube.

 

Miguel Santos, General Manager, Myx TV: Miguel Santos is an award-winning TV network executive with more than 15 years of experience leading at international broadcast media companies. Santos is currently the general manager of Myx TV, the multicultural Asian American entertainment network. In this position, he sets the overall direction and strategy for the network, including programming, production, creative, digital media, marketing and business development. Throughout his time at Myx TV, he has substantially improved business performance, increased viewership across all platforms and expanded network distribution domestically and internationally. Santos has forged relationships for Myx TV with organizations like Got Your 6, which unites nonprofit, Hollywood, and government partners to empower veterans, and he organizes events and programming for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. He’s committed to greenlighting content from independent producers and employing some of the most diverse casts on television in all Myx TV shows. As a result, Myx TV produces award-winning, original linear and digital programming that highlights diverse perspectives and people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. Santos holds several honors, including being named a Luminary by the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) in 2017. He was also named one of Studio Daily’s 50 Top Creatives + Technologists in 2017. He has been named one of Cablefax’s Most Influential Minorities for four consecutive years. In 2016, he was invited to speak at the White House Initiative at the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Conference. He’s a member of the Producers Guild of America and serves on the board of the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF). Santos started his career with MTV Networks Asia as a production assistant then worked his way up to head of production and on-air promotions, where he oversaw MTV Philippines' entire production and creative output, including over 10 locally produced shows, daily interstitials and promotional plugs, weekly vignettes and live televised events shown across MTV Asia.

 

Reza Rassool, Chief Technology Officer, RealNetworks: Reza Rassool joined RealNetworks in April, 2016. He heads engineering for Mobile Services and CODEC development. Reza has more than 30 years of experience in the digital entertainment technology space, and his accomplishments include developing Oscar and Emmy winning editing systems, the world’s first commercial VOD server, a family of VDRs and a crowd-sourced theatrical distribution system. Prior to RealNetworks, Reza founded and acted as CTO of Kwaai Oak, a CTO-as-a Service™ company that provided technical consulting to digital entertainment platforms. By 2016, the business could take credit for $1 billion in start-up exits. He also held the CTO position at music service, Zya, in addition to Chief Engineer roles at Widevine Technologies, which sold to Google in 2010 for $150 million, and Micropolis/Streamlogic. Reza holds a B.Sc in physics from King's College in London. During his career he has had 24 patents granted and numerous papers published.

 

Evan Weiss, Founding Partner/Head of Talent, Red Sun Entertainment: 2015- Present:  Founder of Red Sun Entertainment: Red Sun Entertainment is a talent management and production company focusing on convergence of traditional media platforms with emerging digital platforms and premium content from high end creative artists. Digital clients include Jesse Ridgway/Mcjuggernuggets, Tanner Braungardt, Dom DeAngelis, Boogie2988, Elliott Morgan, Steve Zaragoza, The Beach House/Pins and Things, Freakin Rad, Hannah Cranston/Think Tank as well as radio superstars Big Boy and Jason Ellis and television showrunners Chuck Tatham and Don Foster and directing superstar Gary Halvorson. Production projects include Streamy Award Winning "Psycho Family" for Complex/go90 and "Bad Influencers" for Fullscreen. RSE is a full service management and production entity with a focus on premium content and creators with cross-platform capabilities. We are keenly aware of the trending of brand marketing toward digital platforms and engaged audiences and maximize opportunities for our clients by facilitating their creativity toward premium entertainment that exceeds the limitations of social media platforms and connecting them with the best and most appropriate brand opportunities and premium content platforms. We pride ourselves on our cutting edge deal making experience and capabilities as we advocate aggressively for our clients. 2008-2015:  Executive Vice President/Studio 71(f/k/a Collective Digital Studio; originally The Collective) Evan utilized over 20 years of television studio and talent representation experience as preparation for the digital age of entertainment. Applying his skills and experience to capitalize on the large scale audience aggregation capabilities of YouTube, Evan was integral to the formation of Collective Digital Studio and its metamorphosis into Studio71. When Evan left to form RSE in 2015, Studio71 was a full-fledged media company accounting for 3.5 billion views per month of premium video content from its exclusive family of creator-partners.  Evan has spearheaded initiatives with major brands such as Estee Lauder, Verizon, MTV, Spike, Universal Records, Conde Nast, and NBCUniversal. Evan was prophetic in  professing that premium broadcasters, brands and publishers should all be heavily invested in building and maintaining relevance through innovative content initiatives on an array of digital social media platforms. At CDS, Evan also managed a diverse roster of clients, including innovative YouTube creators and traditional television writers and directors. Clients include Gary Halvorson, Chuck Tatham, Don Foster, Jon Ross, Frank Lombardi and Big Boy; as well as digital icons Lucas Cruikshank, Elliott Morgan, Steve Zaragoza, Alex and Roi of Wassabi, Jaboody Dubs, E and P Hudson, Paint, Jesse Ridgeway/McJuggerNuggets and Hollywire TV. Evan made  the deal bringing LA radio icon Big Boy to iHeart Media and their Real 92.3 brand in the LA market and Premiere Radio Networks on a national level. When Evan joined the Collective in 2009, with an emphasis on overseeing the company’s television operations and development, he pivoted into the modern age of digital creators by signing a breakthrough deal with internet sensation Lucas Cruikshank, creator and performer of the YouTube character “Fred Figglehorn.” Lucas and “Fred” went on to be the first YouTube channel to reach one million subscribers. Under Evan’s guidance, Lucas and his “Fred” property became the first-ever social media property to pivot into a successful mainstream motion picture franchise, spawning multiple sequels and an innovative series for Nickelodeon, co-financed and produced with Brian Robbins, who went on to form Awesomeness. The emphasis on digital platforms and audience building was a precursor to next phase of business development at The Collective. Evan also packaged and Executive Produced the hit TV series, “Marvin Marvin” for Nickelodeon. 2000-2008- Partner in Handprint Television: Evan founded Handprint TV with Handprint partners Jeff Pollock and Benny Medina; among the projects executive produced by Evan was The Tyra Banks Show, with Telepictures; "Pamela: Girl on the Run" with E!; "The Show: With AJ Calloway" for UPN;  ABC comedy “In The Game” starring Jennifer love Hewitt and Ed O’Neil: "The Crib" motion capture animation series for ABC/Disney, as well as other scripted and reality projects. 1992-2000 Head of Packaging United Talent Agency: Evan founded and ran the Television Packaging Dept. as an agent at UTA from 1992-2000 and worked with clients such as Drew Carey, Ben Stiller, Larry David, Gregory Hines and writers Chuck Tatham, Don Foster, Linwood Boomer, Gordon and Conn, Eddie Gorodetsky, Sam Simon, Jhoni Marchinko, Matt Goldman, Jon Beckerman, Rob Cohen, and Rodney Rothman and director/producers Gary Halvorson and Joel Gallen to name a few. 1986-1992 Vice President of Business Affairs and Production Finance, Walt Disney Television. After joining Disney as an attorney in 1986, Evan quickly rose up business affairs and eventually Vice President, working on deals and policy for the network television studio.  Projects included the hit ABC series Home Improvement. 1985-1986 Head of Business Affairs, The Gersh Agency: Evan ran business affairs department for this rapidly growing talent agency; oversaw all dealmaking across both motion pictures and television under mentor Bob Gersh. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Evan was an Associate at boutique NYC  entertainment law firm Blumenthal and Lynne working under partner/mentors Michael Lynne and Richard Blumenthal.

 

Damian Pelliccone is the CEO of REVRY, the groundbreaking new LGBTQ digital content streaming service for Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Android TV Amazon Fire, Pluto TV, IOS, Android and the Web. REVRY now reaches over 10 million people in over 100 countries across the globe. Previously Damian has worked for top-name brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac to develop new media opportunities for product promotion and marketing. Damian also worked as head of Business Development for Make.TV a German based live streaming technology and represented Make.TV in Dubai, Singapore and all over North America and Europe. Damian also served as adjunct professor for Columbia College Chicago and instructor at YouTube Space LA and NYC. With over 15 years’ experience in the digital and new media world. Damian is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America New Media Council, TV Academy Of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the International Academy of Web TV. A proud member of StartOUT, Damian is passionate about supporting the LGBTQ community in both authentic media representation and entrepreneurship.

 

Jonas Halpren Director of Monetization, Synacor: Jonas Halpren has been driving revenue for digital properties for over 15 years. His experience encompasses publisher, marketer and agency roles, working in digital mediums (display, video, mobile) utilizing both programmatic and direct IO deals. Prior to Synacor, Jonas built and managed IO based Video Inventory Acquisition business for the One by Aol programmatic video marketplace.

 

David E. Leibowitz is Managing Partner of CH POTOMAC, working at the intersection of entertainment, media and technology and focused on bringing new innovative ways for people to enjoy and experience content.  David brings many years of experience in business, law and policy issues facing the entertainment, new media, CE and IT industries.  Among other activities, David is a Senior Advisor to Gibson Brands (parent company of such iconic brands as Gibson Guitar, Baldwin, Onkyo, Philips Home Entertainment and TEAC); Co-founder and Chairman of Sir Groovy (an award-winning solution for creating enhanced search metadata for musical recordings); Co-Chairman of Golden Shores Enterprises (a marketing and advertising technology firm that utilizes point of sale consumer data to deliver hyper-local digital advertising and lifestyle content across multiple digital platforms); and Chairman of Moonrider (an interactive advertising and content generation company whose platform is used to create engaging “magnetic” HTML5 and iOS experiences for tablets, smartphones, and other interactive devices).  David also serves as a member of the CEO Advisory Board of The Silverfern Group (a merchant bank specializing in buy-side M&A opportunities) and as Chairman of the Advisory Board of FIGHTER Interactive (a transmedia strategy and marketing services company for celebrities and brands).  In recent years, David has served as an Advisor to The SingTel Group (Asia’s leading provider of telecom, data and media services in 25 countries); as a Senior Advisor to Motorola Mobility; as Chairman of EZMO (one of the early cloud-based music social network and storage locker services operating in Europe); as Executive Vice President of Gotuit Media (a leading provider of premium metadata based video tools – since acquired by TiVO via Digitalsmiths); and as an Advisor to others in the content and technology industries.  Earlier in his career, David co-founded and served as Chairman and Co-CEO of Verance (the preeminent audio watermark technology provider used by the motion picture, music, CE and IT industries to protect, manage, and monitor the use of audio and audiovisual content); was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America; was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Wiley & Rein; served as Policy Planning Advisor to the Register of Copyrights for the U.S. Copyright Office; and as an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Miami Law School, and at the Communications Law Institute of the Columbus School of Law (Catholic University).