 Ronald
Azuma, Research Leader, Nokia
Research Center HollywoodRonald Azuma is a Research Leader at the Nokia Research Center Hollywood. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is mostly known for pioneering work in the field of Augmented Reality. At Nokia, Ronald leads a team that is exploring the question: What are new forms of compelling media that take advantage of the strengths of mobile devices? In Dec. 2009, we built and performed The Westwood Experience, our first exploration into location-based experiences. This is a new form of mobile entertainment that blends a compelling story with physical locations augmented with digital content. |
 Jay Baage, VP of Content, Digital Media WireJoakim "Jay" Baage has been working in media ever since he completed a year of military service as a writer for the Swedish Armed Forces newspaper Värnpliktsnytt. He has since dropped camouflage in favor of business attire, moved to the United States and now has over a decade of experience from a wide range of international media companies. In the last few years, Jay has focused on the transition from an analog to a digital world and how to build successful media and entertainment properties accordingly. Jay currently oversees content, operations and ad sales for all Digital Media Wire. He furthermore manages marketing initiatives and strategic partnerships across the board for the company. Together with Ned Sherman, CEO and Publisher of DMW, Jay heads up a series of of youth-focused entertainment and marketing conferences called The Millennials. In addition, he is Event Director for the NY and LA Games Conferences. Jay is also a frequent speaker at international media industry events such as the LA Film Festival and Canadian Music Week. He has a Masters Degree in Media, Entertainment & Technology Management from New York University and a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Goteborg University in Sweden. Jay is a recipient of the Wallenberg Scholarship 2004 and 2006, The Sweden-America Foundation Fellowship 2005 as well as awarded scholarships for being “A Promising New Media Manager” by Swedish Newspaper Publishers’ Association 2005 and 2001. He has a keen personal interest in digital media, art, music and pop-culture. On his desk, you will find an iPod, the latest issue of US Weekly and a pair of Cutler and Gross shades. Jay claims to listen to "all kinds of music," but is happy to give you an ear full about hipster bands from his native Scandinavia like "Peter, Bjorn & John." |
 Alex Barkaloff, Executive Producer, Digital Media, LionsgateAs Executive Producer for Digital Media at Lionsgate, Alex Barkaloff is responsible for developing high-impact mobile entertainment, applications, games and communities from the company’s 12,000 film library and hit TV shows as Weeds, Mad Men, Crash and Fear Itself. Additionally, he oversees original digital productions, especially those that can be cross-developed for filmed entertainment and TV. Prior to Lionsgate, Alex created media-based mobile applications for musical artists, graphic novels and dramatic, horror and comedy projects with such companies as UCP Morgen/qPass, Nellymoser, and mobile operators including T-Mobile, Telefonica, Belgacom, Era Poland and handset makers including Nokia. An entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Alex founded GlobalNet Ventures in San Francisco in 1998 and ArtistOne, an online digital music distributor. His enterprise experience ranges from Oracle to PSION (UK) to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA. |
 Dave Bell,
VP of Business Dev, Playphone Inc
Dave Bell has been involved in mobile entertainment and media since consumers began to purchase their first mobile handsets in the mid-1990s. Bell currently serves as the vice president of business development for PlayPhone, where he has spearheaded the company's content programming strategy and manages its business-to-business efforts. While at PlayPhone, Bell has secured relationships to distribute content for and power mobile destinations on behalf of some of the world's top media companies including ABC, RealNetworks, Vivendi Universal, Konami, I-Play, SEGA, Bandai, Square Enix, Gameloft and many others. Prior to working with PlayPhone, Bell founded Chasma, one of the first publishers of branded, top-tier mobile games in North America. Under Bell's leadership as chief executive officer, Chasma pioneered innovative content for the CDMA BREW platform as one of QUALCOMM's first ten content partners. Before Chasma’s sale to Kayak Interactive in 2005, the company had raised two rounds of venture capital from institutional and angel investors and launched more than a dozen branded and original products on hundreds of mobile devices. |
 Russell
Binder, President, Striker
Entertainment, LLCRussell Binder is a graduate of The University of California Santa Barbara class of 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a 15 year veteran of the entertainment and brand licensing business. After spending 13 years with J.A. Roth and Associates, Inc. as a partner and representing such companies as New Balance, Revolution Studios, Artisan Entertainment, and Wildstrom Productions, in 2007 Russell opted to take all of his respective experience and clientele and start up his own full service agency calling it Striker Entertainment. With the intelligent and creative management of intellectual property as the central focus of Striker’s business, Russell has successfully branched out into three specific areas of business: Entertainment Licensing/Consumer Products (Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate, and DreamWorks Studios), Film and Television sales, and new business ventures including www.goldlabel.com leaning heavily on Binder’s area of expertise. Russell is an active member of LIMA (The Licensing Industry and Merchandising Association) and has been the recipient of one of their most prestigious awards: 2008 Best Film, Television, Entertainment Brand of the Year. He was also credited as one of the “Top 40 under 40” in License Magazine, as a “Maverick in the Marketplace” by Royalties Magazine, and a member of licensing’s Elite from Daily Variety. Russell is a regular speaker at UCLA in their Licensing program through Extension. |
 Bjorn
Book-Larsson, COO & CTO, K2
Network
As Chief Operating Officer and CTO at K2 Network - one of the world's largest operators of MMOs - responsible for the overall company operations and technology solutions. Through our consumer brand "Gamersfirst.com" we have 23 million unique registered MMO players across our 5 major product lines. With our publishing operations in North America, Europe, Turkey, Brazil and India - we also have a direct-to-consumer sales presence in 1000's of global internet cafes. |
 Richard
Borenstein, SVP,
Worldwide
Sales, Zong
Richard is charged with advancing the company's global revenue growth. Richard brings over 20 years of sales and executive management experience to his new role at Zong. He most recently directed Business Development at Baynote Inc., a leading on-demand recommendations and social search solutions provider, where he was responsible for the growth of the channel sales organization, international markets, creating strategic partnerships with Google, Cactus Commerce (MSFT), and CSK of Japan. Prior to that Richard was the Vice President of Business Development for Airborne Entertainment, a top-tier mobile entertainment company, where he directed all worldwide sales and distribution strategies, 85% of Airborne was acquired by Japanese mobile powerhouse Cybird in a deal worth over $90 million. |
 Michael Cai, Vice President of Video Games, Interpret
Michael Cai leads Interpret's gaming vertical, providing a wide variety of market research and analysis products to help clients gain a comprehensive understanding of consumer gaming habits and interests and make strategic decisions. |
 Adam Caplan, Vice President - Virtual Currency,
Super Rewards(Adknowledge)
Adam is an experienced Internet/digital media executive with operational focus in the online advertising and social gaming sectors. He is currently the Vice President, Virtual Currency at Adknowledge Inc., a diversified online advertising business which recently acquired Super Rewards, the leading monetization technology for social network applications, casual gaming sites, MMORPGs, virtual worlds and other websites using virtual currencies. Prior to joining Super Rewards as President in early 2008, Adam was the Founder & CEO of a social gaming start-up. Prior to that, he was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley for eleven years, where he headed the emerging Internet/new media banking team in New York. Adam has significant experience providing public and private financing and M&A advice to companies across the internet and media sectors. He is a regular speaker at online advertising, virtual goods and social gaming related conferences. |
 Adam Chapnick,
CEO, Distribber.comAdam Chapnick is Chief of Distribution at IndieGoGo, where he serves as CEO of Distribber.com, a new-model flat-fee distribution service that places independent films on digital sales platforms such as iTunes, Netflix and Amazon while allowing filmmakers to keep 100% of their revenue. Adam speaks regularly on cutting edge distribution strategies at markets and festivals including Sundance, South By Southwest, Digital Hollywood, AFM, WestDoc, Distribution U at USC, The Conversation, American Cinematheque and elsewhere. Adam also proudly serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association. |
 Paul Childers, President, NA,
Rubber Duck Media LabPaul Childers, President, North America for Rubberduck Media brings over 18 years of extensive experience in the technology and media Industry to the company. Childers is responsible for the corporate strategy, including global expansion plans for the European based mobile video company, in addition to the management of the North American market. Prior to joining Rubberduck Media, Childers was Vice President of Sales for the Americas and Asia for Entriq, a digital media management and publishing company. While there, he was responsible for creating a global channel sales group while simultaneously increasing revenue and leading deals with NFL, ESPN STAR, Verisign, Limelight and took over management of lead accounts such as NBC Universal and UFC. Childers was also formerly in charge of Business Development efforts for the Americas for Net2Phone Cable Telephony. He also worked as Managing Director of Central European Operations for Chello Broadband, a division of UPC, Europe's largest cable operator. Prior to taking this role in Europe, he had been working as Chello's Regional Director of Operations for Latin America. Childers re-defined the regional operational structure for the company, and managed the central European region, growing it to over $100 million in annual revenue while also increasing ARPU and EBITDA. In addition, he was responsible for the regions video portals and the introduction of Interactive TV. Childers was also the Marketing & Sales Director for FiberTel-TCI2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which grew to become Latin America's largest broadband MSO under Childers’ management. Childers also held other executive positions in marketing & sales and operational roles at DIRECTV, Latin America. Childers was instrumental in the launching of DIRECTV in the entire region of Latin America. Having held management, operational, and business development positions for telecommunications and entertainment service providers, Childers also has extensive experience in forging partnerships with media and entertainment companies as well as cable, satellite, and telecom service providers in The Americas, Europe, and Asia. Childers graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and received his MBA in Marketing and Strategy from The Anderson School of Business at UCLA. |
 Lee Clancy Jr.,
SVP of Product Management and General Manager, Direct Revenue,
IMVULee joined IMVU in September 2008 from Yahoo!, where he was Senior Director for Community Products. At Yahoo!, Lee also led product management for Yahoo! Groups, a global community of 110 million users, and Yahoo! Personals, the most visited destination in the dating market. Prior to Yahoo!, Lee co-founded a music-focused social networking startup. Lee also worked at Broadband Office in business development and at PricewaterhouseCoopers in strategy consulting advising entertainment and media clients. Lee earned a B.A. in Spanish Literature from Amherst College, an M.B.A. from Cornell University, and an M.A. in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. |
 Ted Cohen,
Managing Partner, TAG StrategicIn an industry that’s been slow to embrace change, Cohen is the exception to the stereotypical music-exec rule. Of course, when you start a career on the road with the Sex Pistols and Van Halen, you're more primed for the unexpected. In his previous role as SVP Digital Development & Distribution for EMI Music, Cohen led next-generation digital business development worldwide for this "big four" record company. During that time, EMI led the industry by embracing and exploiting new technologies and business models such as digital downloads and online music subscriptions, custom compilations, wireless services, high-definition audio and Internet radio. Cohen also led two highly successful new media consulting operations, DMN Consulting and Consulting Adults, attracting clients such as Amazon.com, Universal Studios and DreamWorks Records. Cohen also held senior management positions at both Warner Bros. Records and Philips Media. A 30-year industry veteran, Cohen served as Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum idemNet. Cohen serves on the boards for NARAS, the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund and co-chairs the new media arm of the T.J. Martell Foundation. |
 Allen DeBevoise,
Chairman & CEO,
Machinima.comAllen DeBevoise is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Machinima Inc, and its operating site Machinima.com, a premier entertainment network for gamers. With more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment and interactive multimedia industries, DeBevoise oversees the company’s programming, marketing and sales. Since taking the reins the company has grown three-fold and is now boasts over 100 Million views per month. Additionally, he has recently closed a $3.5 Million venture capital deal for Machinima.com bringing the total funds DeBevoise has raised during his 25 year industry tenure to over $130 Million for a variety of business ventures including dotTV, LowerMyBills.com and Dealer.com, where he was on the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Machinima, DeBevoise co-founded Creative Planet, an online resource for film and television production professionals, after serving as President and CEO of TCI Interactive. Allen was featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s DIGITAL POWER LIST for 2009 and has just been recognized as one of Digital Media Wire’s “25 Executives to Watch” for 2010. The company has fast become a revolutionary social media marketing tool due to its highly engaged and interactive community, delivering high CTR and ROI to the brands, studios, networks and retailers who advertise with them. |
 Jonas Eneroth,
Partner, ProCloud MediaJonas joined the investment group ProCloud from Square Enix's Eidos studio IO Interactive where he was Development Director and Executive Producer. At IO he oversaw production of the Hitman franchise, Kane & Lynch and other internal projects and technology. With a background in investment banking his start in the games industry came at Bungie in Chicago as a designer and producer. Moving to London he became Eidos Interactive's first Executive Producer, covering development and product origination in the UK, North America and Scandinavia. As Executive Producer he helped bring genre defining AAA titles such as Deus Ex, Thief and Timesplitters to market. Jonas' fifteen years in the games space spans start-ups, publishing and leading development teams with platforms as diverse as MMO's, mobile and console gaming. Always with a creative and entrepreneurial spirit he is now focused on production and investment in digital distribution, social and browser based games. He actively mentors and consults with several independent studios and start-ups in the UK and Scandinavia. |
 Josef Fares,
Award Winning Film DirectorJalla! Jalla!, Kopps, Farsan, LeoJosef Fares is a Crystal-Simorgh winning Swedish film director with Syriac origin. Variety declared him one of the ten upcoming directors to watch in 2006. [2] The same year, he won the Nordic Council Film Prize for his film, Zozo. He also played the character of "Josef" in his last feature film, Leo, which was selected for the Focus section in the 58th Edition of the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008. |
 Mark Friedler,
Partner, Worlds and Games, LLC.Mark co-founded strategic consulting firm, Worlds and Games, LLC., focusing on games, community, ads, and virtual worlds growth strategies and tactics. He is currently coaching CEOs and senior executives building their businesses and speaking to business groups. |
 Mahiar Hamedi,
CEO, Donya LabsDonya Labs is dedicated to developing cutting-edge 3D-optimization solutions and help professional producers in the game, film and visualization industries to shorten production time and reduce development cost. Donya’s current technologies are licensed under the name Simplygon®. |
 Mikael
Hed, CEO, Rovio (Finland)Mikael joined Rovio in early 2009 to lead the company from being a work for hire mobile game developer into a publisher with strong proprietary titles on multiple platforms. Mikael redefined the corporate and product strategies, and reorganized the company to allow for the creation of own IP. The first major game release under the new strategy was Angry Birds, which is now on its way to become the most sold iPhone application of all time. This is actually Mikael's second time as Rovio's CEO, a position that he held in 2004-2005 when the company was just starting out in the mobile gaming industry. In between Mikael was managing a comic book publishing business and a real estate development company ("one was fun, the other was profitable.") Mikael also has over seven years of international experience from the IT industry in the US and France, and a business degree from Tulane University. |
 Gene Hoffman,
CEO,
VindiciaPrior to Vindicia, Mr. Hoffman co-founded eMusic in January 1998 and served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director. As head of eMusic, Mr. Hoffman was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine as a member of the July 1999 E-Gang, and named one of the 100 most influential entrepreneurs in technology in Upside Magazine's November 2000 Elite 100. Mr. Hoffman led the acquisition of eMusic by Vivendi/Universal in June 2001. Before founding eMusic Mr. Hoffman was Director of Business Development and Director of Interactive Marketing of Pretty Good Privacy. Mr. Hoffman joined Pretty Good Privacy after it acquired PrivNet, Inc., an Internet privacy software company, where he was co-founder, Director and Executive Vice President. |
 Teemu Huuhtanen,
EVP, Business Dev. and Communications,
Sulake Inc./Habbo HotelAs President, North America, for Sulake Inc., Teemu Huuhtanen knows a thing or two about how to navigate and monetize the new brave world of digital entertainment. He heads up operations in North America for Habbo, one of world’s most popular online social networking and gaming communities for teens. He managed to get Habbo to be the first virtual world to sign a deal with the Hollywood talent agency William Morris and recently announced a dual economy in its online community, allowing users to be rewarded for spending time on the site with ‘pixels’, a currency that allows them to purchase discounted virtual items or rent a variety of special effects for their avatars and virtual rooms. Teemu and his team at Sulake offer advertisers real world access to teens' virtual worlds. |
 Bill Kispert,
VP, Interactive,
NBC InteractiveBill Kispert is Vice President, Interactive for Universal Studios Consumer Products Group. In this role, Kispert is responsible for business and creative development of Universal Pictures and NBC Television intellectual property in the interactive gaming space. This includes game projects created for console, pc, online, interactive dvd, and interactive tv platforms. Recent titles overseen by Kispert include The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay; Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie; The Fast and the Furious; and Scarface: The World Is Yours. Prior to joining Universal Pictures, Kispert was a business development executive at Disney Interactive, and an acquiring editor for Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group in New York. A native of New York City, Kispert is an honors graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. |
 John Klepper, CEO, Imagination Studios
John Klepper is currently running motion capture and animation studios in Switzerland and Sweden. He has many years experience in the Television, Film, and Game industries, providing services in both the European and U.S. markets. |
 Stefan Lampinen,
Founder, Speltjanst
Stefan Lampinen has over 20 years of experience working for three of the biggest names in Games Entertainment, Mobile and Consumer Electronics, across all parts of the value chain. At Electronic Arts, Stefan was a pioneer in the Nordic Games Industry. Vice President, Stefan was headhunted by Nokia to be part of the leadership team that has succeeded in making games a key pillar of their global strategy. In 2005, he was hired by Microsoft to spearhead their Consumer Entertainment entry into the Emerging Markets where he oversaw the launch of Xbox 360 and Windows 7 in 16 countries. |
 Kyu Lee,
President, GamevilKyu Lee is President of GAMEVIL USA, Inc, US office of GAMEVIL Inc. GAMEVIL(www.gamevil.com) is one of the premier mobile game publishers in the world with offices in LA and Seoul, currently having 140 employees. GAMEVIL is well known for revolutionizing the sector with its original and innovative mobile games, backed by unparalleled expertise in advanced mobile and network technology. As a world class leader in mobile game publishing, GAMEVIL continues to lead the sector with a commitment to establish mobile as the definitive mass market entertainment platform for the world. Kyu, who has been in GAMEVIL since the beginning at 2000, has constantly played a key role in the evolution of Korean mobile gaming and has continuously introduced the innovation to the world. Kyu has graduated Seoul National University with a B.S. in Physics. |
 Peter Levin,
Co-Founder, GeekChicDailyPeter Levin is the co-founder of GeekChicDaily.com, a daily email newsletter editorializing all things popular culture. Additionally, Levin is principal & CEO of GYL, LLC, a technology development and investment portfolio focused on digital media companies and video game platforms. Levin serves as an Executive Advisor to Ascent Media and Yoshimoto Kogyo as well. Prior to GYL, Levin served as President and Co-Founder of Bellrock Media, Inc., a mobile and broadband entertainment company creating and distributing premium content for mobile and broadband platforms throughout North America and Japan. Levin began his career at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), working in the Corporate Advisory Group with a client list including Matsushita Electric Industry Company, Sony, Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, and Credit Lyonnais. In 1996, Levin joined The Walt Disney Company in the Corporate and Strategic Planning groups and later joined Disney Online as a senior producer. Leaving Disney in 1998, Levin became managing director of Lynx Technologies. Lynx’s investments included Applied Semantics (sold to Google 4/03), Gamespy Industries (sold to IGN 12/03), Ask.com (sold to IAC 3/05) and Atom Entertainment (sold to Viacom 8/06). Levin serves on the Board of Directors of Sulake, Inc. (Habbo) and Mind Control Software. He is also on the steering committee of The East/West Sports Council and the Center for International Sport Business Advisory Board at the Western New England College. Levin is founder and co-owner of the 2006 World Champion Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League and a managing partner in Palisades Baseball, which owns and operates the West Virginia Power, the class “A” affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is also a minority partner in and strategic advisor to Strikeforce, a mixed martial arts promotional entity. In June 2009, Levin served as the exclusive representative of Nikki Finke’s DeadlineHollywoodDaily in its sale to MMC. |
 Stu Levy,
Founder, CEO and COO,
TOKYOPOPStu Levy is an international entrepreneur, founder, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer of the pioneering manga media company TOKYOPOP; Levy also produces, directs and writes graphic novels, film & television. At TOKYOPOP, Levy established manga as both the fastest-growing category in publishing and as an influential youth cultural trend in the North American market, releasing over 2000 manga graphic novels in North America and Europe including Sailor Moon, Gundam, Death Note, and Fruits Basket. As producer, Levy’s projects span from popular Japanese anime on US television and DVD (including Initial D and GTO) to live-action feature films (including the upcoming major motion picture Priest (Sony Pictures, Winter 2011)). |
 Sean Malatesta, CEO, Marengo Knoll
Marengo Knoll isa new movie distribution company. Aiming to be a Pandora of Movies, we are using the power of iTunes to distribute movies across iPads, iPhones and Ipod Touches. |
 Matias Myllyrinne, Managing Director, Remedy Entertainment
As one of the key figures behind the company's success, Myllyrinne is responsible for handling Remedy's business affairs. Since joining the company in 1999, he has helped build Remedy into one of the world's leading independent game developers. Remedy's "Alan Wake" is the new psychological action thriller coming to Xbox in Spring 2010. It follows the writer Alan Wake as he battles dark forces against him and unravels the mystery behind his fiancee's disappearance. |
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Marty Poulin, CEO, ShadyLogic Studios
Marty leverages years of innovation, management and engineering experience including architecting online social game platforms for market leaders such as Spin Master (as VP Operations and Technology), Disney Interactive (as Director of Online), Sony (as a member SCEA's Online Platform Group) and as CTO of the MMOG World War II Online. Recent projects include Spin Master's toy-inspired LivWorld and TechDeckLive as well as Disney's DGamer social network for Kids. |
 Drake
Pruitt, SVP Business Development,
Ascent MediaDrake leads the team responsible for identifying and pursuing broadly defined supply chain solutions with global media companies, content aggregators, distributors and digital service providers. Drake came to Ascent Media after founding Disruptive Works Media, a consulting services firm building audiences for mobile application, casual game and entertainment content providers across all connected consoles. Previously, he served as CEO of Bocada, Inc., a software company providing data protection management to Fortune 500 corporations. Prior to Bocada, Drake served as vice president of sales for Aquantive Inc., a company that pioneered targeted online advertising and ad serving. Aquantive was purchased by Microsoft for $6 billion in 2007. |
 Mike Reagan,
Award-winning Film, TV and Video Game ComposerAn award-winning composer, songwriter and music producer, Mike Reagan's scoring credits include the romantic comedy UNBEATABLE HAROLD (starring Dylan McDermott and Henry Winkler), the animated television series APE ESCAPE (Nicktoons) and WOW WOW WUBBZY! (Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.) and video games such as CONAN (THQ), DARKSIDERS (THQ) and Sony's best-selling franchise GOD OF WAR. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music and lecturer of Music Composition at University of Southern California's Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program, Mike Reagan has enjoyed a successful career as a composer, songwriter and music producer for visual media. His music is featured in film, television and video game projects including songwriting and production for Oliver Stone's ANY GIVEN SUNDAY and Sony Pictures / Jim Henson Productions' ELMO IN GROUCHLAND, which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Children's Soundtrack. Reagan's music for the Emmy award-winning WOW WOW WUBBZY! cartoon series received a Telly Award for Best Use of Music in Television. In video games he is most recognized for his CONAN original score touring with the Video Games Live symphony concert, the Aurora award-winning orchestral/western hybrid score for DARKWATCH and the recent bombastic smash hit DARKSIDERS. As composer for Sony Computer Entertainment's blockbuster GOD OF WAR series Reagan has been honored by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Original Music Composition and the Game Audio Network Guild Award for Music of the Year and Best Original Soundtrack. Reagan is currently composing music for GOD OF WAR: GHOST OF SPARTA, Sony's surprise sequel in the GOD OF WAR series coming to PSP, as well as several projects to be announced. |
 David Reitman, VP Content & Entertainment, Switch and DataDavid Reitman has over 20 years experience supporting clients within the Data Center & Emerging Technologies Services marketplace. Mr. Reitman is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on how to build large scale Online Infrastructures, Digital Distribution of Media, Streaming Services, Target Content Distribution, Domestic & International Data Center facilities, High-Power Density Deployments, Peering Exchanges and IP Backbone Infrastructures. Mr. Reitman has been an instrumental figure within the Online Gaming industry, as the Executive supporting the Team that has designed, built and deployed the following Online Games: World of WarCraft, BattleNet, EverQuest, EverQuest II, StarWars Galaxies, PlanetSide, Vanguard, Asheron’s Call, the Xbox 360 Live platform, the PS3 Online Platform, as well as, supported Codemasters, Konami, Onlive Game Services, Gaikai and Big Fish Games. Mr. Reitman is the Vice President leading Switch and Data’s Content & Entertainment Practice. To date; the Practice yields an annual revenue stream in excess of $45M, with clients that include: Adobe, Akamai, Amazon, AOL, Big Fish Games, CBS/CNET, CTV, DirecTV, Echostar, Facebook, Fox Interactive Media, Google, Limelight Networks, Microsoft, Onlive Game Services, Time Warner, Virgin, Wikipedia, and Yahoo to name a few. Additionally, Mr. Reitman was a committee team member within the Project Nigel JV. This JV focused on creating the methodologies needed to support digital distribution of content, their associated platforms and underlying digital rights management technology that needed to be leveraged in order to distribute protected copyright content. Mr. Reitman comes to Switch and Data from AT&T, where he was the Practice Director responsible for AT&T's Digital Media & Online Game Services Group. Prior to joining AT&T, Mr. Reitman led CERFnet & EarthLink’s Sales Teams supporting Data Center products. Before joining the Internet industry, Mr. Reitman was an Executive within the Music Business. He led an artist management firm for over 8 years supporting artists on Warner Brothers, Elektra and Sony. |
 Sean
Ryan, Head of Games and Social Media,
TAG StrategicSean Ryan develops new business opportunities and co-consults new clients as TAG’s Head of Games and Social Media. Sean Ryan brings a rich background in interactive media to TAG – after receiving his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School in 1996, he led Business Development for SegaSoft Networks, one of the pioneers in online gaming, including the first Internet-enabled game console, the Dreamcast. After Sega, Sean moved to Listen.com where he led the Business Development efforts for this digital music leader, before being promoted to CEO where the company developed and deployed the award-winning Rhapsody subscription music service. After selling the company to RealNetworks, Sean served as VP Music Services at Real, leading the largest operating unit of the company. Looking to satisfy the entrepreneurial itch, Sean then founded Meez, a leading avatar, game and virtual world company where he still serves as Chairman. Along the way, he also co-founded online karaoke company SingShot (sold to Electronic Arts) and virtual goods platform TwoFish (sold to Live Gamer where Sean is now a Board member). Earlier in his career, Sean worked at Chemical Bank, and helped launch the Old Navy chain at the GAP. Sean holds a BA from Columbia University. |
 Orvar Säfström,
Film/game journalist and producer of game music concerts Orvar Säfström is the most popular film critic in Sweden, having hosted several long running film shows on national television. An avid gamer since the late 70's, Orvar has in recent years shifted his focus towards interactive media, writing and lecturing on games and gaming culture. He is also an award winning producer of symphonic concerts with game music. Apart from his concert series "Joystick", "Settings" and "Score" he produced "Halo in Berwaldhallen" in 2007. This awe inspiring Scandinavian launch event of Halo 3 saw the Swedish Radio Symphonic Orchestra performing music from the game series while the Royal Swedish Ballet danced together with main character Master Chief with the aid of advanced motion capture. Orvar is a recording musician and was one of the pioneers of the emerging death metal movement in the late 80’s. |
 Bill Sanders,
President, Pervasive MediaConsulting with major media companies and startups on entertainment content and market strategies for distribution on mobile and online platforms, Bill developed international mobile creative and business launch plans for CBS Mobile, including their properties Entertainment Tonight, CNET, CBS Mobile News, and the Paramount/CBS/Spelling libraries of television series. As Vice President, Mobile Programming and Digital Product Development for Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Pictures Television International, Bill developed programming, acquisition, business and production models and technical parameters for the Animax Mobile channel (Sony’s global animé/manga network) from its inception through carriage on 22 operators in 15 countries in 8 languages. Sanders developed the first on-demand feature full-length movie channel for mobile with pause-and-resume functionality (for Hutchison 3 Italy in 2005). He oversaw the creation of large video clip packages for the 20-film James Bond library and Sony/Columbia TV’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not! series (in 6 languages) which introduced a daily subscription model for clips: the mobile equivalent of the original Ripley’s syndicated newspaper comic strip. At Sony, Sanders also developed strategy and found technology partners to improve the digital end-user experience through on-device portals, multi-platform unified delivery, on- and off-portal billing, video pause and on-demand streaming functionality, on-device purchasing, advertising insertion and sponsorship, two-way interactivity, social networking and user-generated content. As Executive Vice President of Big Ticket Television, a Paramount/Viacom company, Bill spearheaded the company’s entry into enhanced television in partnership with Microsoft with the first interactive sitcom episode, Moesha, which led to a year of the interactive Judge Judy on WebTV. In 1995, he developed one of the first TV show-based web sites, even including online merchandising, for the late night syndicated comedy, Nightstand with Dick Dietrick, and oversaw broadband trials of Judge Joe Brown and the viral video email-based launch campaign for the UPN animated comedy, Gary & Mike. Similarly ahead of the curve, Sanders co-produced a 3D avatar-based virtual convention for the 2002 live Star Trek event in Las Vegas in partnership with Viacom Consumer Products, created online and CD-ROM new media presence for Universal TV’s Dream On before the WWW came into existence, and as Vice President, Original Programming at HBO, steered the network to view and market ongoing television series as event programming through the development of the 7-season hit, Dream On, HBO’s first Emmy-winning show. |
 Cathy
Schulman, President, Mandalay
PicturesAcademy Award™ winning producer Cathy Schulman became President of Mandalay Pictures in January 2007, at which time she also established Mandalay Independent Pictures alongside Peter Guber. Her experience as both an executive and producer dates back to 1987. As President of Mandalay Independent, Schulman is a part of an elite group of women who head self-financed production companies. She started Mandalay Independent in order to produce self-distinguished projects with a social conscience and youth awareness, in the hopes of illuminating stories of consequence not commonly exposed in film. Schulman recently served as a producer on the documentary “Darfur Now,” alongside Don Cheadle and Mark Jonathan Harris. “Darfur Now,” while still in its early development, was brought to her attention after she won her Oscar® for producing “Crash” in 2006, and Schulman immediately knew how to best utilize the prestige she earned from the award winning picture – she would focus on a film that could give a worldwide voice to those who aren’t being heard. The documentary, which made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this year, details the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan’s western region of Darfur as seen through the eyes of activists working to end this crisis. Schulman and director Ted Braun were granted unprecedented access to the internally displaced people of Darfur, international aid workers, the government and the rebels. “Darfur Now” made its theatrical release on November 2nd through Warner Independent Pictures. At Mandalay, Schulman is presently developing projects with an array of studios. Additionally, under its first look deal with Universal Pictures, Mandalay has a number of films in various stages of development at the studio, including a remake of Hitchock’s “The Birds” and an adaption of Daniel Mason’s best seller “The Piano Tuner,” which will be directed by Werner Herzog for Universal's specialty division Focus Features. Mandalay Independent recently had success with its first feature, “Never Back Down,” an action drama centered around a transplanted Iowa teen who ends up in an underground fighting league, which was released in March, 2008 by Summit Entertainment. Previous to Mandalay, Schulman produced “Crash,” directed by Paul Haggis and starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Terrence Howard. Released in May 2005 by Lionsgate Films, the film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. “Crash” collected numerous awards and nominations, including the Grand Prize at the 2005 Deauville International Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the 2005 Black Movie Awards, Best Ensemble at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Best Feature Film at the NAACP Image Awards and Best Screenplay at the 2006 WGA Awards. In addition to the Best Picture Oscar, “Crash” received 2006 Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. In 2002, Schulman and Tom Nunan formed Bull’s Eye Entertainment to produce independent film and television content. Through this venture, Schulman produced “The Illusionist”, written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel. The film, which was released in the fall of 2006 and made its world premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, garnered critical acclaim achieving the Critics Choice Award for Best Composer at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Cinematography, and a nomination from the American Society of Cinematographers for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases. “Thumbsucker,” another Bull’s Eye Entertainment production which Schulman executive produced, premiered to mass appeal at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. The film, released by Sony Classics that year, starred Lou Pucci, Tilda Swinton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Keanu Reeves, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt and Vince Vaughn, and garnered Best Actor Awards at Sundance and Berlin for Pucci. Additionally, director and world-famous graphic designer Mike Mills won the Guardian Award (Best Director) at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Schulman has served as producer on numerous projects throughout her vast career including “Godsend,” starring Robert De Niro and Edward Burn’s “Sidewalks of New York” as well as associate producing “Tears of the Sun” starring Bruce Willis and “Isn’t She Great?” starring Bette Midler. She was an executive producer on Lifetime’s drama series “Angela’s Eyes,” and will be executive producing “Crash,” the television series, for Starz/Encore this spring. From 1998 to 2000, Schulman served as President of Michael Ovitz’s Artists Production Group, where she supervised over 50 projects, including developing and securing financing for Martin Scorsese’s epic drama “Gangs of New York.” She also served as head of production for a joint venture formed between APG and media giant Studio Canal. Other positions Schulman has held throughout her career include Production and Acquisitions Executive at Sovereign Pictures, where she served as an executive on a slate of films that included “My Left Foot” and “Reversal of Fortune;” Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at the Samuel Goldwyn Company, where she was the executive on films such as “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Madness of King George;” Senior Vice President of Production at Savoy Pictures; and as President of Lobell-Bergman Productions at Universal Pictures. Schulman programmed the Sundance Film Festival for three years during the festival’s formative period in the late ’80s and early ’90s, also playing a major role in designing the annual producer’s conference and the Sundance Film Festival in Tokyo. Active in the industry, Schulman is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, AFI, IFP and FIND. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Women in Film, teaches graduate level film producing at UCLA, serves as a USC Stark Program producer’s mentor and is a graduate of Yale University. This year she will serve as a judge for the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her husband and daughter. |
 Garry Schyman, Transmedia ComposerEvocative motifs, epic themes, aleatoric dissonance or apocalyptic intensity: composer Garry Schyman explores a stunning spectrum of sonic possibilities. The creator of music for the multiple award-winning video game BioShock – winner of Best Original Score from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Spike TV’s Video Games Best Score Award, G4 Television’s Soundtrack of the Year and four awards from the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G) including Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, Best Original Instrumental and Audio of the Year-- he has emerged as one of the medium’s foremost composers. A composer whose work spans feature films, prime time television series, mini-series, movies of the week, video games and documentaries, Garry studied composition at the University of Southern California and later, privately with the renowned composer George Tremblay. Just out of the university he was then employed by the legendary Mike Post and Pete Carpenter organization where he worked on the team’s roster of top rated series. |
 Sten Selander, Director of Business Development, Nordic GameSten Selander is Business Development Director at Nordic Game Program. He has a background in entrepreneurship, business and application development for new media and new cultural expressions, media production and product development, design and manufacturing. With over 32 years of experience within media, art and design fields, and with the last 10 years within games and interactive media Selander stands on firm ground when it comes to strategic issues for games industry and new media. Selander also have a background in being executive management at start-up and fast growing companies. |
 Ned Sherman,
CEO &
Publisher,
Digital
Media WireAs CEO, Publisher and Executive Editor of Digital Media Wire, Inc., Ned Sherman works at the center of the rapidly growing digital media industry, where he brokers relationships and keeps a tab on the most important developments shaping the industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Publisher Ned Sherman is more than the average pundit: He is an attorney and has an inside grasp of what is happening.” Ned has established Digital Media Wire as a leading digital age media company that owns and produces nine annual conferences and provides daily news, information and community to tens of thousands of executives and professionals at entertainment, media and technology companies throughout the world. The advertising, sponsorship, client, partner and subscriber relationships that Ned has brokered make Digital Media Wire one of the best known media and entertainment industry brands to emerge in the digital age. Ned is responsible for establishing DMW's partnerships with NYU's Stern School of Business, the Consumer Electronics Association and numerous other industry publishers, associations and businesses. Future of Television Forum, which he co-chairs, with NYU's Professor Al Lieberman, is widely considered to be the most prestigious event of its kind, bringing together industry leaders from around the globe twice annually in Los Angeles and New York to network, do deals and discuss the industry's future. He also co-chairs and hosts Digital Music Forum, the industry standard among digital music industry events. In 2004, Ned created the Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards, which was acquired from DMW by VNU (now Nielsen) in 2005. Ned continued to be active in the Awards, which he co-chaired with Billboard and Hollywood Reporter President and Publisher John Kilcullen. In 2006, Ned was instrumental in securing an investment from the Consumer Electronics Association, now a partner on two DMW events, Digital Music Forum East and Future of Television Forum. In 2007, Ned established a partnership with Canada's leading media and entertainment event, Canadian Music Week, and chaired, produced and hosted the successful Millennials Canada Youth Marketing event in Toronto. As Publisher and Executive Editor of DMW since 2000, Ned overseas all content for the site and newsletter, writes a weekly column Digital Media Week in Review and has published two books, Millennials & The Digital Entertainment Age: A Sourcebook for Consumer Marketers and The Digital Entertainment & Media Directory. From 2003 to 2004, he was Editor-in-Chief of Digital Media Law Report. Before co-founding Digital Media Wire, Ned spent seven years as a corporate and entertainment attorney practicing at several of the leading law firms in the world. Ned is a graduate of Brown University (AB, with honors, 1990) and the University of Texas School of Law (JD, 1994) where he was Chief Articles & Notes Editor of the Texas International Law Journal. |
 Peter Shiao,
Founder, CEO and Chairman,
ORB Media GroupPeter Shiao is a seasoned executive, producer, cultural and political strategist, and social entrepreneur who has continued to build bridges between the East and the West. Currently he is the founder and CEO of Orb Media Group, a “transmedia” production, marketing and financing company based in Los Angeles and Beijing. He is also the official Hollywood brand builder for the official Shaolin Temple of China – the birth place of martial arts. Peter sits on the board of Asia Society Southern California and The New Century Foundation. In Orb, he is embodying his life-long passion for bridging worlds, innovation and making a positive difference through entertainment. Formerly, Peter served as CEO of Ironpond, a US-Asia based finance/production company specializing in Chinese-Hollywood co-productions. Previously he cofounded Ionic Studios, an end to end digital entertainment company and served as its executive vice president and member of the board of directors. Peter has also produced and created films under the first movie company he founded: Celestial pictures. He produced the first US-China co-production, Restless and the successful Asian American film The Debut. Prior to Peter’s career in media, Peter enjoyed a career in politics, serving as principal consultant to multiple bodies in the California Legislature including the Special Committee on the Entertainment industry, Select Committee on the Pacific Rim, Committee on Insurance, Claims, and Corporations, and Senate Special Task Force on A New Los Angeles. Peter is also a certified dispute resolution mediator, and specialized in the mediation of racial tensions in Los Angeles in association with the Federal Justice Department and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. Peter began his public service career as a legislative liaison for then mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, on Capital Hill. Peter was born in China, raised in Hollywood. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science, and attended graduate school in public policy as a State Senate Fellow. He makes his permanent home in Los Angeles with his wife, Catherine. |
 Per Stromback, Spokesperson, Spelplan - Association of Swedish Game DevelopersPer is the head of the trade organization. He provides services for members, participates in lobby work towards the government and adjacent industries, analyzes the needs of the industry and develops projects to address them, promotes the member companies to public and overseas industries, and runs the day-to-day operations. |
 Tero Virtala, CEO, RedLynxTero Virtala has been the CEO of RedLynx since 2002. Before that, he was a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 5 years, developing and implementing strategies for Media-, Entertainment and IT-companies. RedLynx is currently a 35-person game studio based in Helsinki, Finland. Company’s focus is on developing and publishing its own multiplatform games for digital distribution. With success cases like Monster Trucks Nitro (web, PC, iPhone), DrawRace (web, iPhone) and Trials (web, PC, XBLA) RedLynx strongly believes in the opportunities that the changing games market in general, and digital distribution especially, provide. |
 Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid AdvisorsMike Vorhaus is the managing director who founded the Magid Internet and New Media research and consultation practice in 1995, beginning with projects for AOL and Excite. Mike has participated in hundreds of studies for our clients and personally consults a number of leading Internet and gaming companies. Mike has been involved in strategic and tactical consulting, including the launch of new services and programming, as well as development and implementation of online and offline marketing programs. Mike has also been extensively involved in video and PC gaming strategies for a number of major gaming companies, as well as the development of game concepts. Mike has also consulted on a number of film projects such as You've Got Mail and The Matrix. He holds a B.S. in psychology and sociology from Wesleyan University and has worked as a fundraiser and transfer of technology officer at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Mike also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, The U.S. Senate, and for two administrations in the White House. |
 Brent
Weinstein,
Head
of Digital
Media,
UTABrent Weinstein is Head of Digital Media at leading Hollywood talent and literary agency UTA, where he helped form the department in 2003 to oversee the agency’s digital practice areas, including online and mobile entertainment, video games and digital consulting. Weinstein led the dept.’s team of dedicated digital media agents to identify and evaluate opportunities for UTA clients: actors, writers, directors, producers, and recording artists, in addition to many business-to-business and consumer-oriented technology and corporate clients. Weinstein, with UTA co-founder and partner Jeremy Zimmer, also formed UTAOnline (www.utaonline.net), a dedicated broadband division that finds and represents the next generation of web-based content artists. Launched in October 2006, UTAOnline is the first of its kind among major talent agencies. During his tenure at UTA, Weinstein has made digital media deals for many of the best known artists in entertainment, including Johnny Depp, Jack Black, Jim Carrey, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as well as top digital media artists such as Big Fantastic (“Prom Queen”), AskANinja (askaninja.com), and others. Brent rejoined UTA after spending two years as the CEO of 60Frames Entertainment, a venture backed startup focusing on original programming for digital platforms. 60Frames was named one of OnHollywood’s Top 100 Companies in 2008 and 2009, having developed premium programming and partnerships with top Hollywood talent and partners including Warner Bros, NBC, MSN, Sony, HBO, MTV, and brands including McDonalds, P&G and Sprint. In 2008 Brent was named one of Variety’s 10 Innovators to Watch, and named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen list, honoring the top 35 entertainment executives under 35 years of age. He is a regular speaker at conferences including Digital Hollywood, Forbes MEET, iHollywood, CES, NATPE and others. Prior to joining UTA in 2001, Weinstein practiced corporate and business litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, and the University of San Diego School of Law. He is married and lives in Los Angeles. |
 Dan Winters,
VP, Developer Relations/Acquisitions, Activision Blizzard
Dan is an industry veteran of over 17 years, with stints at Activision, Disney Interactive and Electronic Arts. Before entering into the world of Video Games, Dan spent 4 years playing professional baseball for the Oakland A’s, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. He also spent 6 years as an actor with appearances on day time TV, commercials and various other TV shows. After getting his start at Activision in 1993, working on various titles including Mechwarrior 2, he spent 10 years at Disney Interactive where he eventually became Vice President of Product Development. Under Dan’s leadership, Disney Interactive contributed to or co-released over 50 games including; Kingdom Hearts, Tarzan, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, Tron, etc… After a stint at Electronic Arts as Executive Producer of Medal of Honor: European Assault, Dan rejoined Activision in 2005 to oversee Developer Relations and Acquisitions. Although Dan has enjoyed an exciting professional path, Dan’s is most proud of his family, Joshua (22), Mariah (16), Nicole (11) and wife, Marianne. |
 Gabe Zichermann, CEO, beamME
Gabe Zichermann (b. 1974) is an entrepreneur, author and public speaker that coined the term “Funware” to describe the use of game mechanics in non-game contexts. As co-author of the upcoming books “Game-Based Marketing” (Wiley, 2010) and “Funware in Action” (Manning, 2010), Zichermann makes a compelling case for the use of games and game mechanics in everyday life, the web and business. Gabe is the CEO of professional mobile social networking startup beamME where he’s working hard to bring fun to every aspect of interpersonal business. A native of Canada and resident of NYC, Gabe frequently muses about games and the world at http://funwareblog.com. |