Wednesday, January 4 3:50 PM - 5:00 PM Track I - GP9: Music, TV Industries and Games – the New Hitmaking Combinations: From Game Creation to Cross Promotions & Brand Extension The TV industry, like the movies, has forged a perfect relationship with the games industry – likewise, the music industry, in a different way has found its own hitmaking engine in games. Games is proving itself to be among the best partnerships that the entertainment industries have ever forged. The marriage between games and TV starts with the fact that the target demographic is a perfect fit which translates into great programming for gamers, advertising and branding opportunities and ends up with games being produced about the content of TV – from sports games which have forged their own cultural universe to kids shows which regularly translate into hit games. On the music front, like the idea of hit CDs as soundtracks for movies, videogames with audiences approaching 10 million are now becoming the perfect venue for game soundtracks. The music and the games industry is now emerging as its own industry-sector. The concept of the music industry as game driver and games industry as music industry diver is now in play. Joseph Varet, Business Development and Strategy, MTV: Music Television David Getson, CEO, of g-NET Media Dario Spina, Vice President of Marketing & Promotions, Spike TV Ken Hertz, Senior Partner, Goldring Hertz & Lichtenstein LLP Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency Laurant Weill, president and C.E.O, Visiware (France) Stuart Snyder, General Manager, GameTap, Turner Broadcasting Ankarino Lara, VP of Product Development, CNET Networks’ Games & Entertainment Division, Moderator Kenneth Hertz, Senior Partner, Goldring, Hertz & Lichtenstein: Hertz, managing partner in the Beverly Hills law firm of Goldring, Hertz and Lichtenstein LLP, specializes in representing talent in the entertainment industries. The firm’s clients include Will Smith, Destiny’s Child, Beyonce Knowles, Christina Aguilera, No Doubt, Hillary Duff and Alanis Morissette. Prior to joining the firm, Hertz was vice president, music -- business and legal affairs -- for The Walt Disney Company. Hertz is also a principal in Membrain, an entertainment marketing strategy consulting firm that consults a number of firms engaged in businesses operating in the entertainment content, technology and marketing industries (including Hasbro, Alliance Entertainment, BMG and The Estate of Elvis Presley, Def Jam and Paul Frank Industries). Hertz is a frequent speaker on the subjects of entertainment, convergence and technology, and has been an instructor at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. Hertz is also active in various causes and in December 2002 he, and his partner Fred Goldring, received the ACLU’s Bill of Rights Award for their extraordinary commitment to social justice. Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency: Leading video gaming executive Jonathan Epstein recently opened the San Francisco office of United Talent Agency, marking the first time a major Hollywood agency has opened an office in the heart of electronic and video gaming industry. Epstein's appointment significantly expands UTA's video game and interactive operations into new areas representing the convergence of gaming, filmed entertainment and the marketing and advertising worlds. Epstein brings more than 20 years of media and marketing experience to UTA,and brings a profound track record of success in creating new products, markets and business models in the Internet and gaming businesses. Epstein has played a leading role in the development of the online media serving the gamer, having worked in key executive roles for all of the top online media supporting that industry. As founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, Epstein reshaped the way by which gamers get their information and the ways that marketers most effectively reach gamers. As president of GameSpy, Epstein transformed the company into a media powerhouse, building the largest subscriptiQn base of any gaming service. He later helped spearhead the merger of GameSpy with IGN Entertainment, where he served as executive vice president and general manager/media, for the bulk of 2004. Dario Spina, Vice President, Marketing and Promotions, SPIKE TV: Spina joined the network in 2001 as Director, Marketing and Promotions (when the network was called The National Network) and has been responsible for integrated marketing, trade and consumer advertising, special events, new media strategy, strategic partnerships and promotions. He has played a significant role in Spike TV's transformation to become the first network for men. Some of Spina’s accomplishments have included managing the network’s successful, annual Upfront event and roadshow presentations; creating and executing promotions, managing original show launch campaigns and a variety of stunts and sponsorships packages for the network’s various tentpole events. He has supervised a staff responsible for executions on a variety of integration promotions for a diverse clientele list for Spike TV that varies from movie studios, to video games, to automotive and wireless companies and beyond. Previously, Spina was director of promotions at MTV Interactive (MTVi) where he created and executed convergent promotions for VH1, MTV and Sonicnet.com. Prior to MTVi, he was a special events and production director for DDB Needham, specifically working on the New York Lottery account. Earlier in his career Spina worked in the music industry as a marketing manager at Mercury Records working on album releases for such artists as Bon Jovi, Brian McKnight and Vanessa Williams. Spina earned his undergraduate degree from Pace University and attained a MA in Corporate Communications from Seton Hall University. He resides with his wife and family in Verona, NJ. Stuart Snyder, General Manager, GameTap, Turner Broadcasting: As general manager of GameTap, Stuart Snyder is charged with the day-to-day management of the marketing, programming, development and distribution of the broadband entertainment network. With his innovative talent, Snyder leads the first network of its kind that allows subscribers to access everything from early arcades to console games and PC titles using a broadband-connected PC. GameTap games include everything from Pong, Pac-Man and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, to Sonic and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Turner has licensed nearly 1,200 games from 24 publishers, including Activision, Atari, EA, Eidos Interactive, G-Mode, Intellivision Lives, Midway, Namco, SEGA, TAITO, Team 17, Ubisoft and Vivendi Universal Games. Complementing the library of games, GameTap’s original programming features an exclusive mix of magazine, reality, and lifestyle shows, interviews with the who’s who of gaming, celebrity features, and all-new "game trailers" for the GameTap service. A veteran entertainment industry executive and innovator, Snyder most recently served as president and CEO of Cinar Corporation, an animation, live-action and education production/distribution company based in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership, the company instituted and completed a successful turnaround and sale process for its public shareholders. Snyder is currently a board member of Turnstile Entertainment in New York, a company he co-founded which creates and produces family entertainment programming featuring popular brands, such as Clifford the Big Red Dog LIVE and the soon to be released DVD toddler series, Baby Road Trip. He had previously served as President and COO of WWF Entertainment, Inc., the world renowned television and sports entertainment franchise. As president of USA Home Entertainment in, Snyder was on the team that successfully marketed and released the critically acclaimed film, Being John Malkovich, and green lit the Academy Award-winning® film Traffic. Earlier in his career, he was President and COO of Feld Entertainment, the world’s largest producer of live family entertainment, featuring Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and Disney on Ice. Prior to that, Snyder built the hugely successful home entertainment division for Turner Broadcasting, which during his tenure distributed The Beatles Anthology Series, The Swan Princess, Ken Burns’ Baseball, Gettysburg and PBS Home video, increasing revenues from $20 million to $350 million. In 19??, Snyder joined LIVE Home Video, where he was part of the team that grew the company from $50 million in revenues to $400 million. His professional entertainment career began at MGM/UA as head of the Non-Theatrical Division and later moved to its Home Entertainment Division. David Getson is co-Founder, CEO, and Board Member of g-NET Media, America’s leading independent producer of game-related programming. Getson focuses on the general direction and growth of the company, which crafts game-related content for all media platforms, including TV, the Web, VOD, and DVD. Getson and g-NET have helped build the game-programming strategies of media companies such as Spike, MTV2, Vh1, AOL, Cablevision’s Rainbow Media, and many others. The company also produces a wide range of content for leading videogame publishers that is used as marketing and supplementary content for major game releases. Prior to g-NET, Getson was the Founder, CEO, Publisher, and Editorial Director of ICON Magazine, an award-winning, internationally distributed, general-interest magazine for men. Getson graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1994 with a BA as an Academic All-American. Ankarino Lara, VP of Product Development, CNET Games & Entertainment , CNET Networks Inc.: Ankarino Lara, Director, Product CNET Games & Entertainment, is responsible for all site feature, functionality, and product development on the GameSpot.com, MP3.com, and TV.com domains. His group consists of the editorial and news departments, as well as product management, broadband, design and technical integration teams. Recently, Lara was a key player in the launches of the GameSpot Community, the development of the new GameSpot Live broadband studio, the launch of TV.com and the MP3.com and GameSpot.com redesigns. Previously at CNET Networks, Lara held several managerial positions over the years, including Director of Operations, Director of Business Relations and Programming, and Manager of Business Relations. Prior to the CNET/ZDNET acquisition, Lara was a Senior Editor for ZDNet Music. An avid gamer, audiophile, and TV junkie, Lara received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Laurant Weill is the Chairman & CEO of Visiware, one of the world's leading interactive TV company. After studying Biochemistry and Computer Science at Paris 6, this interactivity specialist was co founder of video game companies, and professional software house. Laurant is also the President of the AFDESI the French Interactive TV association. Visiware is one of the main players in the growing market of interactive television, with applications and channels broadcasted in 77 countries, on 33 networks. The group is one of the most experienced in the world with its interactive TV agency, and its own channels such as Playin’TV the N°1 worldwide interactive game channel, Playin’Star and MiniKids’TV. Visiware is a privately own fast growing and profitable company with offices in Paris, Philadelphia, Sidney, Madrid and London.