7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
(Open to all Digital Hollywood Registrants)
The University Project - Evening Session
"Global Media Strategies - Developing the Next Generation of Entertainment, Media & Technology Thinkers and Visionaries"
Janet Pearce Stenzel, Director, Mobile Media Institute, University of Southern California
Dave Kusek, Vice President, Berklee College of Music
Dr. Bernard J. Luskin, Director Media Studies, Vice President, Institutional Partnerships, Fielding Graduate Institute
Jonathan Taplin, Adjunct Professor, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
Frank Foster, CEO Tigar Hare Studios
Vernon Smith, President & CEO, Amplify, Moderator
Dave Kusek, Vice President, Berklee College of Music: Dave Kusek i
s a musician who has been inventing the future of music for the past twenty-five years. He was one of the first to capitalize on the commercial potential of computers and music. As an early synthesizer and electronic music pioneer, Dave cut his teeth co-inventing electronic drums at Synare, which helped ignite the disco sound. Kusek went on to found Passport Designs, the first successful music software company. Kusek is also co-developer of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) standard that opened up electronic music to literally millions of people. His efforts, along with others, set the stage for the desktop music market that we have today. In 1993, Kusek, with A&M Records, designed and developed the first commercially available enhanced CD. Today, Dave Kusek is innovating at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., the premier school for aspiring professional musicians for over half a century. Dave is Vice President for Berklee Media responsible for Berklee Press, the college's publishing division and Berkleemusic.com, Berklee's online music school and career networking center. Kusek is also an active consultant, author and producer of interactive DVDs and other media. His latest book, The Future of the Music, will be published in January 2005. Dave has been quoted in Wired, Billboard, Boston Globe, New York Times, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and has been a speaker and lecturer at Berklee, MacWorld, Comdex, PC World, NAMM, AES, and Cal State University. Berklee is the world's largest music college and the premier institution for the study of contemporary music. Berklee's 35,000 alumni are a who's who of the industry. Berkleemusic.com is Berklee's online music school providing worldwide access to Berklee faculty and instructor-led courses in Production, Songwriting, Arranging, Music Theory and Music Business. With online courses such as "The Future of Music", Berklee's curriculum explores challenging aspects of the music business.Jonathan Taplin, Adjunct Professor, Annenberg School For Communi
cation, University of Southern California: Jonathan Taplin’s areas of specialization are in International Communication Management and the field of digital media entertainment. Taplin began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese’s first feature film, Mean Streets which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1996, Taplin produced 26 hours of television documentaries (including "The Prize" and "Cadillac Desert" for PBS) and 12 feature films including The Last Waltz, Until The End of the World, Under Fire and To Die For. His films were nominated for Oscar and Golden Globe awards and chosen for The Cannes Film Festival seven times. In 1984 Taplin acted as the investment advisor to the Bass Brothers in their successful attempt to save Walt Disney Studios from a corporate raid. This experience brought him to Merrill Lynch, where he served as vice president of media mergers and acquisitions. In this role, he helped re-engineer the media landscape on transactions such as the leveraged buyout of Viacom. Taplin was a founder of Intertainer and has served as its Chairman and CEO since June 1996. Intertainer was the pioneer video-on-demand company for both cable and broadband Internet markets. Taplin holds two patents for video on demand technologies. He has acted as a consultant on digital media for entities as diverse as McKinsey and Company and the City Of Los Angeles. Mr. Taplin graduated from Princeton University. He is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and sits on the advisory board of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland. Dr. Bernard J. Luskin, Director Media Studies, Vice President, In
stitutional Partnerships, Fielding Graduate Institute: Presently, Dr. Luskin is Chairman and CEO of Luskin International. He is also Executive Vice President for Institutional Partnerships, and Director of the Media Studies, Media Psychology, and Community College Leadership programs at The Fielding Graduate Institute. Luskin has served as president and CEO of three colleges and universities, CEO of Fortune 10 and 50 companies, has written eight books and 200 articles. Additionally, he has produced motion pictures, television series, and CD and Video products of all types. Dr. Luskin has received lifetime achievement awards in media and education from the UCLA Doctoral Alumni Association, California State University Los Angeles, The University of Florida Institute for the Future, The European Commission, and Irish Government. Frank Foster, CEO Tigar Hare Studios: Frank Foster, Chief Executive Officer, was formerly a founding Senior Vice President of Sony Pictures Imageworks, where he helped start the division and managed the PC based production group for over 8 years. Credits included feature films like "Speed", "Jumanji", "The Craft" and "Johnny Mnemonic" as well as numerous Sony corporate tasks like designing the VAIO computer and the on-line version of "Jeopardy". In 1998, Frank was selected by SIGGRAPH to direct the feature length documentary, "The Story of Computer Graphics", which is now considered the standard for the history of the industry. Prior to joining, Tigar Hare he was the director of "Thru the Moebius Strip" a movie based on the artwork of the acclaimed French graphic novelist Jean 'Moebius' Giraud.
Vernon Smith is President & CEO of Ampliphy, Inc., a provider of multichannel video services tailored to the specific needs of universities, where he has responsibility for leading the company and overall corporate strategy and development. Mr. Smith has over 15 years experience in the telecom/media sector. Prior to Ampliphy, he led Société Européenne des Satellites’ business development and investment group which successfully transformed them from a medium-sized regional operator into the largest global satellite group. As part of his responsibilities in SES Technology Investments, he served on various Boards of Directors, including Asia Satellite Telecommunications. Previously, Mr. Smith founded Prism Media, a media-consulting firm that developed digital broadcasting businesses and successfully completed a client IPO. Additionally, while at Hughes Communications, he was the founding Director of DIRECTV International, where his responsibilities included identifying potential video markets, negotiating partnerships, assessing technology developments, and securing project funding. Mr. Smith has spoken at conferences in all regions of the world on satellite services and video distribution. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.