Monday, March 27
1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Session B:
Content Creators: Taking Your Trade to Mobile
Mobile Entertainment is the fastest growing industry within the United States. Ringtones, Wallpapers, mobisodes and games are bringing in millions of dollars in revenue each year. Find out what the it takes to move into this lucrative arena from content creators and brand-builders in music, gaming & film. Participants in this panel include luminaries writers, producers, musicians directors & actors who have seen the opportunity for growth and capitalized upon it.
Robert Tercek, co-founder, MultiMedia Networks LLC
Lauren Cole, President, Cole Media
Stephen Davis, President, Mobile Media, Infospace, Inc.
Simon Buckingham, CEO, Mobile Streams
Frank Chindamo, President and Chief Creative Officer, Fun Little Movies
Bryan Biniak is the Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile division of American Greetings Interactive (AG Interactive), Moderator
Lauren Cole, President, Cole Media: Ms. Cole is President of Cole Med
ia, a company that helps clients set up and launch media-related businesses. Clients include companies launching cable and satellite channels, mobile content services, video-on-demand, and broadband content, both in the U.S. and internationally. Companies that Cole Media has worked with include TV Guide, Network Live (AOL/XM Radio/AEG), TV One (Radio One/Comcast), Technicolor, Sony Pictures Entertainment, E! Entertainment, GSN, Granada America, World Championship Sports Network, National Lampoon, Wine Network, HBO Latin America, and Anthony Robbins Companies. Ms. Cole was previously Chief Operating Officer of PacketVideo Corporation, the first company with technology and applications to stream video over wireless devices, where she oversaw all of the business activities of the company. Under her supervision, PacketVideo established contractual relationships with over 200 global media and internet companies, including all of the major studios, and numerous major broadcasters, cable companies, and streaming media companies around the world. Prior to joining PacketVideo, Cole spent 8 years at Sony Pictures Entertainment in the International Television area where she was responsible for launching, making investments in, and supervising Sony’s cable channel investments in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. During her tenure at Sony, the company launched or made investments in 35 channels. She also headed up operations for Columbia TriStar International Television. Cole also worked in Warner Bros.’ Strategic Planning Dept, and at Bain and Company. She has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College and an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.Robert Tercek, co-founder, MultiMedia Networks LLC:
For 20 years, Robert Tercek has pioneered new forms of digital entertainment. Mr Tercek has the unique experience of launching multimedia programs and services on every digital platform, including satellite and cable television, PC CD-ROM, game consoles, narrowband and broadband Internet, interactive television, and wireless networks. He has introduced digital programming services in every part of the world. In 2006 Mr Tercek co-founded MULTIMEDIA NETWORKS to provide branded entertainment programming via broadband to multiple devices, including PCs, TV set top boxes, networked game consoles and mobile devices. His credits include several of the most successful interactive entertainment programs, such as online versions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune and the Monty Python game series. Tercek has supervised the creation and marketing of digital entertainment in partnership with numerous major media companies, including Marvel Enterprises, Billboard/VNU Media, Warner Bros Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Activision, Atari, Hasbro, CBS SportsLine, The World Poker Tour. Since 2000, Tercek has participated in raising more than $250 million in strategic financing for new media startups. He played an instrumental role in the worldwide growth of two of the leading companies in the field of wireless multimedia: PacketVideo Corporation and MFORMA Group. Tercek was Chief Marketing Officer at MFORMA, where he established the firm as one of the top five publishers of mobile entertainment in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Earlier, as President of Programming at PacketVideo Corporation, Tercek launched the world’s first mobile video services in 40 carrier networks. To create interactive entertainment, Tercek draws upon his diverse background as a programming executive, television director, and game designer. Earlier in his career, Mr. Tercek served in executive management at Sony Pictures Entertainment and MTV: Music Television. At Sony, he served as Senior Vice President of Digital Media, managing the production units responsible for interactive TV, online games and mobile content. At MTV, he served as head of on-air creative and launched the channel in two dozen markets worldwide. He co-founded game publisher 7th Level in 1993. He has directed and produced short films in India, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as animated TV series for national syndication in the US. In 2001 Tercek founded the mobile game summit at the Game Developer Conference: today he serves as Chairman of GDC Mobile. Tercek is a member of the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. He lives in Los Angeles and works internationally.Stephen Davis, President, Mobile Media, InfoSpace, Inc.: Stephen Davi
s is president of mobile media, where he is responsible for managing InfoSpace's mobile entertainment business worldwide, including content licensing and production, marketing, public relations, promotions, sales and product development. An international entertainment industry executive, Davis previously served as president of Granada America, one of Europe's largest producers and broadcasters of quality television programming, where he lead the company into a leadership position as the largest foreign-owned supplier to the U.S. television networks. Prior to Granada America, Davis was president and CEO of Carlton America, Carlton Communications' U.S.-based development and production division, which later merged with Granada. There, he also served as a director of Carlton International Media Ltd., and was involved in the distribution, video, book publishing and merchandising activities of the company. He came to Carlton from Hamdon Entertainment, a joint venture between Carlton and another European media company. At Hamdon he served as president and CEO, leading the company’s production and distribution businesses in the longform television market. Davis also previously worked as vice president of entertainment and media development for the Merv Griffin Entertainment and Investment Company, where he led the development of television programming, motion pictures, live entertainment and new media. Prior to that, Davis held high level posts at gaming and entertainment company Players International, Call Interactive, and MCI. Davis earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications from Michigan State University. He serves on the Board of Directors and as co-chairman of NATPE, the world’s leading non-profit association of television program executives. He is also member of several organizations, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Hollywood Radio and Television Society.Simon Buckingham, CEO, Mobile Streams: Prior to founding MobileStreams in January 1999, Simon worked for Vodafone UK from 1991 in the area of valueadded services. His responsibilities included setting up and managing theVodafone Business Partners Programme. Simon has over 14 years experience in themobile messaging and content arena and holds a first class BCom Commerce withGerman degree from Birmingham University
Bryan Biniak is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the
mobile division of American Greetings Interactive (AG Interactive). Biniak is responsible for all wireless initiatives including technology and application development, content licensing and creation, content distribution, marketing and sales. As part of AG Interactive, Biniak recently created exclusive partnerships with high-profile brands such as Def Jam, Univision and Fuse TV and has overseen acquisitions of key content providers including MIDI RingTones and European powerhouse, K-Mobile. The division employs more than 120 people worldwide in the United States, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. AG Interactive is the digital subsidiary of American Greetings Corporation, a $2 billion a year, publicly traded company. It distributes its products through 700 retail stores and management of over 6 million linear square feet of retail space in over 115,000 retail outlets including Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Albertsons. American Greetings creates products for over 150 brands including Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and Sports Illustrated among others. AG Interactive has over 127 million unique visitors a year and includes AmericanGreetings.com, Bluemountain.com, eGreetings.com and Beatgreets.com. The company also serves as the exclusive greeting card publisher for MSN, Yahoo, AOL and Earthlink, among others. American Greetings’ New Ventures division includes Create & Print, Instant Messaging and Email products and services. Formerly, Biniak served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Moviso, a wireless subsidiary of Vivendi Universal. Biniak was involved in the sale of Moviso to InfoSpace in January of 2002, which was acquired for $25 million. In addition, Biniak served as Chief Operating Officer of Premium Wireless Services, the predecessor to Moviso, which owned and operated YourMobile NetworksÑü a consumer Internet portal that has distributed over 100 million ringtones to over 15 million consumers in 85 countries around the world. Biniak negotiated its sale to Vivendi Universal for $15 million. Biniak founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of China-based MusicZone - a mobile media services company serving wireless carriers, device manufacturers, and media companies in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Additional positions include Vice President of the MIT Media Lab spin-off called Harmonix Music Systems based in Tokyo and Los Angeles; Director of Entertainment and Technology for Marlar International; Vice President of Business Development for the Motion Picture Corporation of America; and an executive at Trimark Entertainment. Biniak currently serves as a member of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s (CTIA) Executive Committee, Chairman of CTIA’s Downloadable Content Committee, as well as the Co-founder of the Mobile Entertainment Institute at the University of Southern California. Biniak holds a bachelors degree in International Relations, Business & Economics from Boston University and attended the University of Ceara in Forteleza, Brazil.Frank Chindamo, President and Chief Creative Officer, Fun Little Movies: F
rank Chindamo is the President and Chief Creative Officer of Fun Little Movies. "FLM" specializes in producing original, live-action comedy films for its mobile channels of entertainment on Sprint-Nextel, Microsoft, Smart Video phones, in the US and many other countries around the world. They’re known as "Fun Funny Phone Films." Fun Little Movies has been the subject of cover stories in Forbes Magazine and the L.A. Times, and stories in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, CBS Radio, Wired Magazine, CBS TV’s Inside Edition, The Chicago Tribune, and several other outlets. Frank Chindamo holds the world's record for most short films made independently. His films have appeared on HBO, Showtime, CBS, PBS, A&E, Playboy, MTV and Comedy Central, etc. They’ve won 20 awards including The American Cine Golden Eagle, The American International Film Festival and a Finalist's Place for Best Short at the Cannes Film Festival. Frank is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California. At USC, Frank teaches short screenplay writing. He also created the Student Script Database, the tool which will allow directors and writers to pool their talent and is intended to bring the best-written scripts at USC to the screen. As Executive Director of the Staged Screenplay Reading Series at the Lee Strasberg Theater, and as the Director of the Professional Screenwriting Workshops at SONY Studios, Chindamo developed fourteen feature films which have been produced for the screen. Frank also taught at the Gotham Writer’s Workshop and City University of New York. Frank was also a Vice President of Development at two production companies in LA and has worked as a script consultant on numerous projects. Frank Chindamo received his Film B.F.A. from N.Y.U. and his Screenwriting M.F.A. from Columbia University.